Madcap Policy

The latest Conservative lurch to the left, capping the energy bills of those on standard tariffs, sounds superficially caring towards hard-working families but it is just plain daft.  Numerous commentators have pointed out that our energy market is, already, highly competitive so there is no need for Government interference.  In any case, the energy companies will find a way round any Government intervention to ensure that someone else pays for the electoral largesse. Having freed the energy market from state control and found that it now works well and in the interests of the consumer, why go backwards?  If it aint broke, don’t fix it!  And finally, the whole principle of price controls is economically illiterate.

Of course, this won’t be Government interference in the market, oh no, the Government will slope shoulders on that one! The price cap will be set by an “independent regulator,” just to make sure no blame ever reattaches to our MPs (who so much want to be in Parliament to “make a difference”).

Charles Moore points out that the public sphere is now dripping with “independent” bodies:

“In a way that Orwell would satirise if he were alive today, the word “independent” is becoming almost interchangeable with “unelected.”