Wake up Labour MPs: the price of electricity is a crisis for industry and growth | Nils Pratley
The price of electricity is less entertaining than a bout of leadership plotting but Labour MPs, if they lifted their gaze, could note that the boss of one of our largest energy companies made a significant prediction this week.British electricity prices in 2030 would be higher than they were in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of British Gas-owning Centrica.If he’s right, the implications may matter more for those MPs’ re-election prospects than if or when the prime minister goes.O’Shea was not making a point about net zero.He was merely saying all options for the necessary upgrade of the country’s energy infrastructure were expensive.
“We’ve underinvested in the system for many years, and whether it’s the cost of building a new gas-fired power station or a new windfarm, the costs have gone up,” he said.Well, quite.The energy secretary Ed Miliband’s “record” auction for offshore wind last month was declared a triumph because guaranteed prices for developers did not come out at the nose-bleed levels that had been feared, but nobody can call £91 a megawatt hour for 20 years a bargain when the past year’s wholesale price for electricity was £80-ish.Equally, though, the government probably has a point when it says the gas-fired route would be expensive because the price of turbines has gone through the roof (though we may have to buy a few anyway because today’s fleet of gas stations is ageing and some will be needed as backup).Nor are Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C nuclear plants, or the coming small modular reactors, cheap.
And, behind it all, sits the enormous £80bn-ish upgrade of the transmission grid out to 2031, a chunk of which would be required under all scenarios – indeed, some of it relates to gas.O’Shea’s prediction is not controversial, even if it’s striking to hear it spelled out starkly.Most mainstream energy analysts who crunch the numbers on the interplay between falling wholesale prices (because gas will be less influential) and higher network costs (because of the fixed-price contracts for renewables and nuclear and the extra spending on pylons and cables) end up concluding that system-wide savings only start to arrive sometime about 2040.One can quibble over details – and O’Shea was probably referring to the 2022 average price of electricity, not the peak – but one gets the broad picture.The direction is probably up a bit for the next few years.
The government seems to have accepted as much because it has given up claiming its 2030 clean energy plan will – of itself – bring down household bills by £300,From April £150 is being removed by shifting a potion of costs into general taxation,It may be the future mechanism too because Miliband, in front of the energy select committee on Wednesday, called the £150 a “downpayment” by the chancellor to meet his £300 promise on household bills,Let’s hope Rachel Reeves realises,That still leaves British business exposed to some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the world.
One can’t say the government is doing nothing because 500 companies in the most energy-intensive industries will get bigger discounts on their network charges via the established “supercharger” scheme.But that hardly adds up to a rounded strategy to address the inevitable consequences for growth and competitiveness.A “British industrial competitiveness scheme” for another 7,000 companies will arrive in April next year but ministers have yet to say who will qualify or what savings in electricity bills of “up to” 25% will mean.It’s vague stuff.Meanwhile, look at the mood of despair in vital manufacturing sectors.
The Chemical Industries Association this week predicted more closures, on top of the 25 sites that have gone over the past five years,“One of the biggest pressures on the sector has been the crippling cost of energy – needed to not only run factories but also as a feedstock, underpinning production processes,” said its chief executive, Steve Elliott,“In the UK these costs continue to be as much as four times higher than in some key competitor countries – with government policy significantly reinforcing that differential,”Complaints go beyond high electricity prices – theyre also about carbon taxes out of line with those of other countries, unsustainable decarbonisation deadlines and the run-down of the North Sea,The net result, though, is loss of competitiveness in core industries that, according to the government’s own industrial strategy, will be critical in supplying the chosen “high-growth” sectors, including life sciences, defence and advanced manufacturing.
Scunthorpe’s steelworks was rescued and Ineos’s chemicals plant at Grangemouth got £120m of funding to save the UK’s last ethylene plant,But they were 11th-hour interventions made when ministers judged the alternatives to be worse,They don’t add up to a strategy for industry to live with high electricity costs,If prices will be even higher by the end of decade, Labour needs to find some answers,Economic growth used to be its top priority.
Moroccan lamb filo pie and rhubarb panna cotta: Thomasina Miers’ Sunday best recipes
There is little as pleasing to cook in the depths of the winter as a pot of enticingly fragrant, slow-braised meat. A shoulder of lamb is one of my favourite cuts; you, or a friendly butcher, will need to trim away its excess fat, a job that will reward you with an exquisite flavour that marries beautifully with bold spicing. Here, we travel to Morocco, with sweetly aromatic ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, and follow that with cardamom, cream and rhubarb for pudding. A sumptuous, colourful feast to stave off any February blues.Many elements of this dish, with its falling apart, richly seasoned lamb and carrots encased in crisp, golden pastry, can be made the day before
Georgina Hayden’s quick and easy recipe for creamy chicken and mustard fricassee | Quick and easy
This is a one-pan dinner at its finest: elegant and full of flavour, something that feels as if it has taken more effort and time than it actually has, and versatile in its finish – serve with creamy mash, fluffy rice, boiled potatoes; even hunks of fresh baguette would be wonderful for mopping up the creamy mustard sauce. I use whatever veg is in season: purple sprouting broccoli is at its best right now, but you could add stalks of rainbow chard, shredded cavolo nero, even halved baby carrots. Play around with whatever veg you have and love.If you can’t find mustard powder, feel free to use your mustard of choice – wholegrain would work well here.Prep 5 min Cook 30 min Serves 44 skin-on chicken breasts (about 160g each)Sea salt and black pepper 2 tsp English mustard powder 1 tbsp olive oil 200g purple sprouting broccoli 30g unsalted butter 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp aleppo pepper 2½ tbsp plain flour 125ml dry white wine 500ml chicken stock 200ml single creamPut the chicken breasts on a deep plate and season generously
Red lentils, and lamb and barley: Ilhan Mohamed Abdi’s soup recipes for Iftar
There is nothing quite like that first bite after a long day of fasting. It’s quiet, intentional and deeply comforting. The stillness just before sunset gives way to movement – the table being laid, the clinking of glasses, the pause as everyone waits for the call to prayer. Then, with a date in hand and water on the tongue, the fast is broken. That moment never loses its meaning, no matter how many times you experience it
RecipeTin Eats founder farewells Dozer the golden retriever: ‘I will love you and miss you forever’
Nagi Maehashi, the celebrated cook behind RecipeTin Eats, has announced the death of her beloved canine companion, Dozer, on Sunday, saying the cover star of her bestselling cookbooks would be missed “forever”.Dozer, a golden retriever, was Maehashi’s supporting star on her hyper-popular cooking blog and featured in many images and stories in her two books: Tonight and Dinner. Dinner was released in 2023, and became the fastest-selling cookbook in Australian publishing history. Maehashi’s blog receives more than 500 million hits each year.On social media, Maehashi said Dozer, who was 13, was hospitalised at the vet in January with a lung infection, which was complicated by his older age and existing medical conditions
How to cook the perfect brigadeiros for Valentine’s Day – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to cook the perfect …
If you’re not au fait with these soft, chocolatey treats, you clearly haven’t spent much time in Brazil, where, in the words of blogger Olivia Mesquita, they’re national treasures, “a must-have at special celebrations, from kids’ parties to weddings”. As content creator Camila Hurst puts it, “It’s basically not a party without them.” Quick and simple to make from everyday ingredients, they’re also an ideal last-minute gift for someone you love.Older recipes tend to call for hot chocolate powder, but plain cocoa powder makes for a less intensely sweet result. Mesquita’s book, Authentic Brazilian Home Cooking, uses dark chocolate, and TV chef Leticia Moreinos Schwartz suggests combining the two
Cylla, Birmingham: ‘Maybe the best potato side dish being served in the UK today’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Punchy cocktails and roaringly traditional Greek food in the heart of BirminghamCylla, a classy Greek restaurant on Newhall Street, Birmingham, draws inspiration, it says, from Scylla, the legendary Greek man-eating sea monster that lives close to the whirlpools of Charybdis. She’s a beautiful woman, but has six dog heads, all grumpy and snarling, as well as a serpent’s tail.If Scylla herself were ever to turn up at Cylla, dogs’ heads barking and tail flapping, they’d have to seat her in one of the gorgeous private booths at the front as you enter the room. These are the spots to grab if you want a little privacy, which is why we eschewed the long, prettily lit cocktail bar and headed straight to this cosy hidey-hole for a round of Poseidon’s Wrath. “It’s a bit like a dirty martini,” explained our server, who was one of those warm, bright, commanding, knowledgable souls who, in a hospitality setting, is worth her weight in drachma
MPs call on welfare bosses to speed up redress over carer’s allowance scandal
Exercise can be ‘frontline treatment’ for mild depression, researchers say
We need a fresh vision to save our high streets | Letters
Tom Maley obituary
People with obesity 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from infection, study finds
Joy Davies obituary