Don't We Just Love Pre-Budget Lobbying?

Spring is here, and it falls to the unhappy lot of the corporate PR to be instructed from on high to demean themselves by placing articles seeking to change the Chancellor's mind on some heavily-trailed Budget measure.  One can imagine the effect this tosh has over the Osborne family breakfast table. "I see in the Telegraph that EDF are asking for some more free cash, George."  "Oh really, dear? Then I will hasten to the Treasury to do their bidding this very morning."  At best, these daft articles are a kind of pre-emptive whinge.

In their own way they can be amusing, though, for all that.  I particularly like it when they place their ads on Guido's blog; and C@W is always open to pre-paid contributions ...  But it is to the Telegraph we turn for these two closely related gems:

Keep carbon tax, say green and nuclear energy chiefs ;  and

Britain has the right energy policies in place, it just needs to keep the costs down

The latter is under the by-line of out old EDF friend, chief frog Vincent de Rivaz lui-même.  Not satisfied with his extravagant Hinkley Point C deal, he also wants to preserve the windfall for his existing nuclear fleet that is the Carbon Price Floor - a boon which is altogether more tangible and immediate than the sometime-never Hinkley, being cash-in-hand right now.  Pretty brazen to use the words "just needs to keep the costs down", but being in lobbying mode is a shameless business (he invokes Ukraine and the floods, too, though inexplicably fails to mention Chinese inward investment).

Tough shit, Vince, but you had it coming.  Live by the subsidy, die by the subsidy.

Spotted any other entertaining budget-whine for our delectation ?

ND