Wholesale

If we were serious either about Islamism, which is a real threat, or about Vladimir Putin's Russia, which for all its unpleasantness is not and which in fact we need against the real one, then we would be pursuing the energy independence for which we were more than blessed with the resources.

No Government would allow the big energy companies, at least, to go bust, meaning that they are effectively underwritten by the State. If you imagine that those "loans, not grants" would ever be repaid, then I have some magic beans to trade for your cow.

For both of those reasons, each of which is fundamental to the other, the energy companies ought to be in public ownership. And so much for the alleged lunacy of the underrated Ed Miliband's energy cap now.