Last week before a Select Committee, a bunch of genuine energy industry experts effectively demolished Miliband's plans - at least in his risible 2030 timing for de-carb and price cuts, if not in totality. Their numbers and reasoning cannot be gainsaid. Even the Grauniad has noticed.
And yet he & DESNZ still keep mouthing the same nonsense. "It's all the fault of gas. £300 bill reductions by 2030 are a commitment. 95% decarb elec by 2030. Both will come through investment in renewables, and that's the only way."
Emperor. No clothes. It's too serious, just to point & laugh.
I know he thinks Net Zero is his life's mission on earth & redemption for losing the 2015 GE; he's resilient, determined, politically adept and relentlessly optimistic: but how long can he last in office? Before he's simply pushed by Starmer, or baited beyond endurance by Reeves, or his intellectual pride causes him to throw in the towel?
UPDATE, THURSDAY - not saying "you read it here first"; but this morning's Graun reckons it is indeed all up for Miliband's policies & targets. Can he last until Xmas? The Budget?
ND
OT, but as ND predicted... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clykzx43v0po
ReplyDeleteOn topic - I think they want him to quit, if they sacked him, he'd probably hop over to the Greens in revenge and to place more pressure on Starmer.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, Starmer is some kind of anti-Midas, if he tripped and fell into a pool of models at the Playboy mansion, he'd somehow find himself tangled with Hefner's corpse. Set adrift in the ocean, if he found land, it'd be Epstein's island.
Reeves is revving up to hike taxes to such an extent that Starmer will be expected to chuck him out to try and keep the 'cost of living' increases out of sight for a few days!
ReplyDeleteAn income tax hike is well in the crosshairs of TTK's little Playstation...
Daft Ed,
ReplyDeleteI saw you standing alone
With a mad dream in your heart
With a weird love of your own
Daft Ed,
I know just what you were there for
I heard you saying a prayer for
Someone you really do care for
Suddenly there appeared before you
The true one your arms do beckon
I heard you whisper "oh adored one"
But look! the glass has broken.
Sir E J Starmer-Thribb
Poor old Starmer, all the chicken are home to roost.
ReplyDeleteIf you hire consultants and experts you have two options - ask for a truthful answer or ask for an answer that suits your agenda. Experts of all kinds will deliver either because they want to get paid and words can be made to mean anything you like. As for 'truth', that too depends on who you ask and what the latest fashion is. Try The Royals Society's words on energy storage. You would do better lighting the boiler with their words. Independent honest consultants go bust.
Now it looks to me that Net Zero is a fantasy and no one is really pursuing it apart from in words, in deeds not so much. Although the Chinese do seem to be burning a lot of coal to make lots of solar panels. Fusion power still looks a way off, any fool can make a long sustainable reaction but getting the heat out and making the system (and you) survive still seems a long way off.
We might try cutting the number of humans. If you ask Mr Trump nicely I'm sure he would oblige in removing say 70 million Americans provided we removed say 100 million Europeans. But the job would have to be equally spread across everywhere and you would still be left with a temptation to migrate from mud huts to all those nice empty houses. So that's a non runner.
So poor old Ed can only wring his hands and mutter the mantra. More seriously, no one has a good answer, no wonder Starmer looks so glum. Never mind, Kemi has all the answers - not. Nature cannot be fooled.
To stop this happening in future, there needs to be a proper reckoning for the politicians. More than just losing their seats...
ReplyDelete"Fusion power still looks a way off," It's been forty years off ever since I was a boy. It's one of the great invariants of Physics.
ReplyDeleteAt this stage, Starmer seems to be acting as a human spike protein - inoculating British voters against Labour. Throwing Millivolt under the (electric) bus won't change things quickly enough.
ReplyDeleteI might be having a moment, but;
ReplyDeleteI recall reading (somewhere) that at the last reshuffle, Starmer attempted to re/move Milliband - who apparently refused.
Which is remarkable, if true, so remarkable that I don't quite believe it.
But still, can Milliband effectively veto a cabinet reshuffle? Interesting times.
"can Milliband effectively veto a cabinet reshuffle?" Maybe that depends on What He Knows. Or even Whom He Knows.
DeleteMr Cowshed, your recollection is correct. I kinda do believe it. I imagine it goes like this:
ReplyDelete"Rayner's gone: let's move Mili to Housing, get someone more, errr, pragmatic in DESNZ"
= = = =
"Ed, we need you to pick up Housing - big part of the Mission, lots to do there for a chap of your dynamism & sense of purpose"
"Nope, I refuse. Absolutely. You promised me I could see this one through. It's critical. I've been totally loyal. I'm the only one who can stop the drift to the Greens. In the Party I'm the most popular member of Cabinet by a mile. I'll quit if you push me on this"
"Yeah, OK then Ed, that's a fair one. Crack on with it: we certainly need those reductions in energy bills you've promised to deliver."
= = = =
"He wouldn't budge. Doesn't matter, we'll get the little bastard later in year when the next DESNZ projections come through. Get McSweeney in, start greasing the skids under him..."
Was beginning to think I'd imagined it.
Delete"I'm the only one who can stop the drift to the Greens. In the Party I'm the most popular member of Cabinet by a mile. I'll quit if you put X in charge of Y"
Ed can veto Starmer. Ergo, Starmer is not PM, Ed is. Might be a bit of a nuclear option, if pushed, but Blimey.
Ed can veto Starmer. Ergo, Starmer is not PM, Ed is
ReplyDeleteCan't agree. Ed will discover. Strictly temporary 'victory' for him.
Gordon Brown used to think he had Blair where he wanted him. When (e.g. after an instance of some typical piece of insolent Brownite lèse-majesté during the summer recess when Blair was on holiday) this was put to Blair, he said: I sit on the beach calling the shots on my telephone, and I think to myself: I know who's PM.
Maybe, but, does Starmer have the base within the Party that Blair had, Clause 4 and all?
DeleteOr, if enough current Labour MPs believe the Greens are a real threat from the left, would they side with Ed over Keir, given something to force the choice?