After minister of the Crown for Business, the overloading-Cable's electrifying all out, carpet-bombing, nonsensical assault on the fundamental process of wealth creation, the basic tenets of civilised capitalism and, amusingly, all business generally, at the LibDum conference, I was just wondering what should be David Cameron's ironic song of the month. I've come up with this one:
Perhaps others can think of a better one. For myself, the only electricity currently flowing from this unhappy political arrangement is the stuff from the power stations that the lefty enviro-loon Chris Huhne hasn't closed down (yet) and will never replace anyway once he does. Our coalition-compromise lunatic Energy minister has stated categorically that he will not allow new power stations to be built, not just nuclear ones but any type as far as I can see, until George Osborne gives in to his tax reform demands. The tax reforms are actually a pretty good idea if taken in total theoretical isolation. But the fact that mad-Huhne and his insane-professor mentor, Cable, are demanding these things from their own government, and that hatstand Huhne is prepared to hold the entire nation to energy ransom to get his way, tells me two things:
1) This coalition is one major reality check away from welcome collapse.
2) Cameron better realise that his friends are very definitely electric. They switch their loyalty on and off at the drop of a headline.
These dudes have strayed way off the reservation territory the Tory-LibDum treaty had so fairly mapped-out for them.
Interesting times are back. And Dave, hey mate: 'friends' are always electric, especially political ones.
I'd welcome that coalition collapse right now, D, the only thing that concerns me is that "somehow", (rigged poll?) Labour are again neck and neck with the Tories and the last thing we need is one of the Minibrains in No.10 and the rest of that rancid Labour shower back in government.
ReplyDeleteI can't quite work out whether you're being ironic about Vince's speech..?
ReplyDeleteBS: the more I hear the LibDums contributions, the more I agree with you.
ReplyDeletePB: too much?
The lights are due to go out around 2014, with power cuts to level out supply.
ReplyDeleteThHis ignores the increasing demands that are already occurring with more and more elctrical gadgets and laptop/home computers. Add to this the proposed extension of railway electrification, and the closure of coal stations for "environmental" reasons, and you have the Political equivalent of Chernobyl.
In true Labour-style obfuscation, we lost the window to solve the supply issue about 10 years ago, and even if we start construction power stations at an unprecedented rate there is no way that the UK can supply its forecast electricity demand.
The Lib-Dems can say what they want publicly, but the bottom line is that if the public are sitting in the dark with no EastEnders on TV as a result of LibDem politics then they will be confined to the wastelands for ever.
@OldTimer, Denverthen
ReplyDelete"The lights are due to go out around 2014, with power cuts to level out supply."
Should this be an issue for the government to sort out, or do we think that the free market would be capable of solving it, if we let it?
Pearl,
ReplyDeleteNo more coal fired power stations can be built courtesy of Europe, although they are happy for the finite resources of gas to be burnt whilst infinite resources of coal are left in the ground.
Wave and wind technology is unable to provide a steady supply, and can never supply our total needs unless we convert the whole Country into one great windmill.
Hydro-electric would take some time, but our Country does not have the natural terrain for this, and the nimbys would be busy delaying any construction for the next 30 years.
That leaves us with nuclear, which of course has its own issues, and a very volatile opposition.
There is no easy answer and I am afraid that until the various protest bodies and nimbys are sitting in the datrk without EastEnders or the latest opiate of the less well-educated (which they tend to be far and large) attitudes will not change.
Even IF we started to build ANY form of power generation facility, we could NOT even hope to get near to the anticipated demands. The future will be a mixture of reducing supply and demand.
There are a myriad of simple ways of reducing demand, such as reducing the intensity and number of street lights, and indeed shutting some down overnight, but that will not help the various "peak" demands, tea-time, Home and Away, Coronation St, Big Brother, et al. If the lazy good for nothings who keep their TVs on standby through sheer laziness and an inability to drag their loathsome and slothful bodies a few feet simply switch off their TVs then as with all other small savings, the numbers would start to mount. Sadly expecting that from some chip-oil and burger fattened slob is probably a thought too far.
It is somewhat amusing to listen to the various reptiles of the Press desperately trying to spin a story that the end of civilisation will happen if we switch off street lights when (a) no-one is about in the early hours, and (b) there is far too much illumination during the hours of darkness anyway.
Do we really need to illuminate every pig barn in rural Essex for God's sake ?
The very people writing this dribble only see the early hours through expenses-paid alcohol induced numbness anyway.
A good method of reducing demand would be to sod the Scots and just go straight to double summer time like we had in the early 1970s.
No-one really gives a monkeys about a few skirt clad Scotsmen jumping up and down and going on about it being dark in the morning do they ??
Anyway I am surprised there are any Scots left up there, most seem to be in England, whinging and moaning yet quite happy to take the money, whilst the remainder are busy learning to live without their Ministerial cars and pretending that they argued with Gordon Brown all along in an attempt to keep themselves from being put against the wall by the PLP in due course.
If it means that much to them, let them keep their own version of daylight time, a bit like their money, and their Socialism. Whilst we are at it lets send them back their failed MPs and former Labour Government Ministers. So much for the fanciful hype of Scottish Prudence eh ?
Other co-joined Countries throughout the world manage different time zones at their borders, indeed some have internal time zones. Is it really too much for the Scots to manage ? Maybe we could offer it as part of a Devolution package, you know, the one where we simply send them back lock stock and barrel, give them their oil, their own time zone and then we let them sell the Scottish financial "prudence", along with their whisky, their contaminated factory farmed Salmon, their own unique brand of Socialism, and their thuggish football managers and Politicians.