On Thursday Boris Johnson advocated investment in nuclear power plants. But that is not what the media focused on. Rather, they focused on his comment that if you have an old kettle you can replace for £20, it could save you £10 a year. This clip, taken out of context, quickly did the rounds on social media.
Johnson is right, of course. The fact that Britain does not invest heavily in nuclear energy is a disgrace. Calder Hall, built in 1956, was the first nuclear power station in the world to produce electricity on a commercial basis. Yet since then, for no discernible reason, Britain has let its nuclear sector wane.
But we cannot blame the media for focusing on the kettle analogy. While nuclear power may be a viable solution for Britain in the long-run, in the short-run the British government has no better strategy than to tell the average person to upgrade their kettle. The reason is simple: there is not enough gas.
The plans being floated by the Eurocrats in Brussels highlight this perfectly. Frankly they are gobbledygook. They advocate introducing “a price limit for inframarginal electricity technologies”. What does that mean exactly? Basically nothing.
The proposals look like they were written by some poor economist who has nothing of interest to say and so reverts to spewing esoteric microeconomic language. All the jargon is there – from talk of the “inframarginal electricity price” to bluster about “greater legal certainty”. But in reality, only one statement in the entire leak has any meaning: “mandatory demand reduction for gas”. That is, rationing.
As I have already noted: there is not enough gas. Since there is not enough gas, people must use less. Either the market can ration this scarce gas by increasing its end price for consumers until they use less, or the state can ration the gas by diktat. There is no third alternative – no matter how many times you invoke the “inframarginal electricity price”.
Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. Rationing via increased prices will likely mean that the sectors of the economy that need the gas most will get it. But it also means that the poor will get hit disproportionately. Rationing via state diktat ensures general welfare. But it risks distorting the market and cutting off key industries.
At the end of the day, however, these are secondary considerations. The main point is that there is not enough gas. Gas rationing means blackouts and blackouts mean that economic activity will grind to a halt. There is a real chance that Europe’s economy will collapse this winter, and living standards will fall sharply. Britain is not exempt from this cruel fate.
The only real solution is to get more gas. To do that the Europeans must hold their noses and accept Russian demands to open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Doing so would overtly flout the sanctions and therefore be an enormous political victory for Russia. But the fact of the matter is that Russia wins either way.
If we do not flout the sanctions then we collapse, our living standards evaporate, and we likely undergo civil unrest and political upheaval. The people in the Kremlin will no doubt look West and laugh. If we break the sanctions, the whole anti-Russia campaign dissolves and we probably move back toward diplomatic normality. That is a big win for the Russians.
So, it is up to us – or rather our leaders. Do we want to stubbornly commit hara-kari to try to make a point – and meanwhile give the Russians a good laugh? Or do we sober up, assess the reality of the situation and hand Russia the victory that they will achieve regardless? Personally, I find ritual suicide distasteful, irrational and primitive.
Philip Pilkington is a macroeconomist and investment professional. You can follow him on Twitter here and subscribe to his Substack newsletter here.
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The BBC Royal Charter: “To act in the public interest…”
Opinions will vary as to what that is. I think it’s simply a terrible idea for any country to have a state broadcaster. Better to have private ones acting unashamedly in their own interests, and caveat emptor. We don’t have, and never have had, a state newspaper – they had them in the Soviet Union though.
Good article. The only thing is, we, the citizens at large, and this includes many journalists, lawyers, judges, doctors and regulators, are, in fact, muppets.
I believe that more and more people will be opting out of the vaxx and further restrictions, simply because they clearly don’t work. But for most people, that seems to be enough. They seem to take this view that it was a jolly good try, didn’t work out, now let’s move on.
Yes, the MSM is not spelling out all the criminal and negligent acts of authorities, it refuses to highlight the many AEs and excess mortality, question why all the vaxx companies were given indemnity, or simply question why we should keep on doing the same things that have clearly failed several times over. But there has been plenty of information available, even in the MSM, for those willing to just simply take 2 + 2 and arrive at 4. Instead, most people seem to want to put this behind them, trust it was all well intended and not be bothered with uncomfortable truths and where taking some responsibility for what we as citizens allowed to happen will lead. Most people do know there is something dodgy about the vaxxes, they do know the apartheid app was the wrong thing, they do know most of the measures are now entirely meaningless gestures, a sort of “we know it does nothing, you know it does nothing, we know that you know and you know that we know that you know – but we’re going to pretend anyways”. But they do not wish to acknowledge that none of these things are a given and that if we all just say “no more”, it stops. The majority still thinks that our ‘betters’ are necessary to make that decision for us.
This type of lazy thinking and reluctance to take responsibility for one’s own life is nothing knew and in some ways I get it. But I will never, ever understand how so many people were and are willing to let total strangers make decisions about their bodies and that of their children – strangers who, by and large, know absolutely nothing about vaxxes, masks or infections, etc. other than the press releases they regurgitate.
It is time for the muppets of the world to unite and push back.
Yes, I think you’ve captured the attitude of many people to all this. It reminds me of the financial adviser who recommended that my brother invest most of his fortune in Royal Bank of Scotland shares, just before the crash of 2008. His explanation was “It was the right decision at the time”.
In some ways the scamdemic reminds me of the 2008 crash and the years leading up to it. Between 2000 and 2007 I was travelling between the UK, NL and Spain on a very regular basis. I was looking to buy a home and was most interested in Spain. I only thought of buying a place there after I had spent about 3 years there, around 2003. The increase in prices during those 3 years was off the wall – I was in Barcelona, so fair enough, big city, bigger prices, but the prices were crazy – a lot of people on salaries of 1000 euros a month were getting mortgages of 350,000 euros or more, for tiny hovels that needed lots of work. The same thing was happening in the UK and to some extent in NL.
I remember just watching in astonishment as month after month, year after year the prices nevertheless kept rising to ridiculous levels and people saying it couldn’t possibly go wrong. No one would listen, no one would believe if you said it couldn’t last.
I have no great interest in or special knowledge of finance, just used common sense, as I did with the vaxx and general view of the bat flu, that clearly was not as dangerous as advertised.
Then, as now, people simply could not believe that governments and regulators would sit back and let private institutions get so out of control and so abdicated all critical thinking to others who often had no more knowledge than any random person and even if they did, would not speak out.
Suggest a read of this article: They Thought They Were Free ⋆ Brownstone Institute People are naturally trusting and I guess this makes us vulnerable, even to situations we wouldn’t want. It’s a gradual abuse, chipping away at normal ways of doing things; we have to object to it. It’s not intolerance to do that – just standing firm for right and freedom.
Agree absolutely and to the above criminal acts one can certainly add the purposeful denial of early treatments for covid, eg Ivermectin at the behest of the Real Powers that Be and bigpharma. This deliberate and evil act cost thousands of lives in order to ensure nothing could prevent the roll out of the “miracle vaccines”.
As I understand it, no GP in the UK can prescribe it even now lest they be struck off
For other criminal acts just read ” The Real Anthony Fauci” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and make sure you tell as many as you can to read it. Open their eyes and make them see.
100% in agreement – but I’m never offered a choice in anything so I can push back, apart from refusing the jabs.
That’s been the genius of the whole thing: don’t ever engage with the public unless they’ve been vetted.
I wonder how many people would have consented to be vaccinated if they’d been told up front that the vaccines don’t stop you getting Covid or passing it on, that vaccine efficacy starts to decline from day one, that an indefinite number of boosters would be required, that there was a risk of rare but serious adverse reactions in the short term, and that long term health risks were unknown.
In other words, if they’d been asked to give informed consent.
I tried to tell people, but I was insulted and ignored. Anyway, a lot of people, especially the young, just got vaxxed to be able to travel, go to concerts etc – they didn’t care about covid much. I tried to tell them this was fascism that must be resisted, but I got insulted and ignored. Still waiting for my apology! F*** the lot of them.
Yes, but that was because they’re gullible sheep, and Good Morning Britain told them that the vaccines were 100% safe and effective. If they’d been told that they could kill you (an equally simplistic message perhaps) they’d have believed that too. It works both ways.
The world is full of ignorant, selfish, know-it-alls and always has been – “The war will be over by Christmas!” This one goes all the way back to Pfizer. Normally we can ignore them, but it’s when they have power and propaganda that it becomes a problem and people acquiesce because it’s easier and know nothing else. So those in charge are to blame.
To the so-called public health officials (and to some degree, the health profession at a large), we’re nothing but sometimes troublesome livestock which has to be managed by experts in accordance with best lifestock management practices to prevent us from accidentally causing harm to ourselves or others.
So-called chicken flu is managed with chicken lockdowns to prevent infections. When this doesn’t work out, it becomes track, trace and cull: Work out which chickens became infected and kill them and all their close contacts.
So-called human COVID is managed with human lockdowns to pevent infectons. When this doesn’t work out, it becomes track, trace and incarcerate: Work out which humans became infected and put them and their close contacts into forced isolation. Due to them not being chicken, they’re given a chance to recover and might even receive emergency medical care should they become seriously sick. Doubtlessly, management of human COVID could have become much more efficient if the lessons from chicken flu management had really been learnt: Do away with this silly humanity and just f***ing cull them! Ain’t there more than enough of them already?
Vets don’t need informed consent from animals because it’s held to be true that this wouldn’t be possible and because they’re property professionals have to care for. The pandemic was an attempt to extend these sound principles to other kinds of economically useful creatures.
I have the perception that an increasing number of people are becoming aware they have been taken for a ride over the covid measures. I see basically two categories of people now. (1) Those who were sceptical from the start, didn’t wear masks, didn’t get jabbed, and saw through the fear p0rn and media hysteria, and (2) Those who played along with all the nonsense at first and who, because of an assortment of reasons, have woken up, at least partly, to the fact something is seriously wrong. The sceptics, not having let themselves be duped, are more likely to calmly seek exposure of the crime and justice for the perpetrators. The second group are more likely to feel aggrieved when they realise how they have been ripped off and how their health may have been permanently damaged by the toxic jabs. I suspect some of those aggrieved people are the most likely to resort civil unrest and possibly violence.
I know one instance of that rare beast – someone who went along with it to start with and was twice injected who now freely admits he got it wrong and it’s all bollocks. He is pretty angry.
I am in a similar category in that I had 2 vaccines. At the time I was unaware of any potential problems with it because, I suppose, I was rather naive and stupid and just, well, hopeful that it was a solution. At the very least I thought it may just be useless. When I very belatedly looked into things, my anger knew (and knows) no bounds, and I’ll tell you why.
I was considered vulnerable because of a heart condition. Now, if when I had gone for my shot I had been told that side effects could include myocarditis or pericarditis I would never have had it. In fact, nothing was said about side effects other than a sore arm. I am b****y furious with the government and I am terrified that I have (or rather, they have) shortened my life, but of course, if I drop dead it won’t be me that suffers anguish, will it? I have embarked on a weight loss and get fit regime, and I no longer use the NHS for day to day stuff because I am disgusted with them too – not that they care about pensioners like me anyway – they make it quite clear they would rather we disappeared.
I no longer believe anything I am told, and I even look askance at things that have happened in the past and wonder if there is another truth. But my anger with the government, the NHS and the BBC is bottomless and undying.
You have every reason to feel shafted and I wish you every success with your campaign to optimize your health.
Those tasked with looking after us either ran scared or took the money and kept quiet.
The NHS pays my pension but I want nothing more to do with it.
I very much appreciate that you have spoken out about your experience and I admire your positive attitude. I hope others hear what you have to say and that this will help them to be more cautious about the professional advice they are given with regards to their health. I wish you all the best with regards to your health and wellbeing and hope you can eventually find healthcare professionals you can fully trust.
Unfortunately before enough muppets wake up to kick up a fuss and challenge the media, government or big Pharma, we will be on to the next crisis; cost of living, fuel and food shortages.
I’d say the globalist cabal are doing quite well.
Health Officials, MSM employees, the legal professionals, the government and MP’s, they all have families and friends, what were they thinking of, not questioning a jab that was given indemnity from prosecution. They’ve been jabbing away at pregnant women while telling them not to eat certain cheeses!!!
I always loved the cheese-warnings (they seem to have disappeared a while ago). The wording was roughly This cheese has been made from raw milk and may thus contain naturally ocurring bacteria. Don’t consume if your pregnant, elderly or have a low resistance to infection. Presumably, the people who designed this weren’t happy that they couldn’t go full tobacco and directly write THIS CHEESE IS GOING TO KILL YOU AND YOUR UNBORN CHILD! CONTACT … FOR HELP QUITTING CHEESE!
Animal is a super cool Muppet. He’d have been wise to the shenanigans from the start.
Who would have jumped the queue to get the jabs first?
Indeed he is.
I reckon Kermit would have been a covidian.
I like to think Statler and Waldorf would be sceptics.
Unfortunately, your friend has now likely compromised his immune system and unless he takes three boosters per year, is likely to be at significantly higher risk than normal. This might be reversible given time but that’s not clear cut at the moment.
And in the short term, some of their mates are making a profit out of it, more than likely. This article is a valid analysis of them all, but many of us could mention that big organisations, like the BBC, or the NHS overall, are not really monolithic. Some parts of it are better than others; some do a good job, others make serious mistakes from time to time, with some of us being lucky to be around at all.
“the BBC, or the NHS overall, are not really monolithic”
The NHS for sure, the BBC I disagree simply because editors and senior management have much more control over and visibility over what goes out, so any good eggs will be crushed or will simply be too afraid to do much, so while there may be some good eggs the effect is pretty monolithic. Deborah Cohen, before she quit, and Nick Triggle, both on the health side, were the best of a bad bunch but said nothing “controversial”.
BBC Is Upset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v93uoaRkj90
The BBC is upset that “Tony on YouTube” called out their fake news about last week’s hot weather.
Tony Heller
Worth watching for the weather forecast at the end.
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Very good little clip, and loved the Marty Feldman bit…hahaha,
of course ‘Tony’ comes across as much more sensible and realistic than anything the beeb say..
I reckon we’ve been nudged for years. From telling us we were the sick man of Europe so needed to join the Common Market, to F&M, the Iraq war, covid, still on going, friends had to prove they had been jabbed to go to a wedding in France, daily distraction and nudged hysteria, weather, football
People are generally far too trusting; it’s why so many get scammed.
I’m not; I firmly believe in the mantra “believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.” So I was naturally cautious when the Covid propaganda started; after a few days of watching the Daily Briefing from Downing Street I told my son that they weren’t putting any of their stats in context so it was telling us nothing of any value. I switched it off and started doing my own “research.” By the time “the jabs” were rolled out, I was firmly in the “I’m not going along with the lunacy” camp.
Unfortunately, far too many people in the UK believe that “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help” is good news. It isn’t. They should grow up and take responsibility for themselves.
This demonstrates the advantage of being a subscriber to the daily sceptic and its former version. We who are know about all these issues, and more. You highlight that the BBC and the MSM in general deliberately fail to publish this information to follow the government line and herd the majority of the public that believe it to follow the government dictats without question. This continues with the governments net zero agenda. We need an honest and honourable government which is what Boris Johnson failed to deliver and the reason he was rightly removed. Those who are trying to put him back in power should realise that our country needs honesty from its government and every one of them that is promoting this is denying that from us, so should be ashamed of themselves.
I just hope whoever is chosen to lead our government next can improve the contract between the government and its people and repair at least some of the damage done by the current outfit. I was a Johnson supporter until, after he promised to ensure Northern Ireland was retained as an equal part of the union, he renaged on that promise. The first sign of further lack of honour and honesty to come. He blamed his predecessor for this, but it was him that signed the document. Pathetic attempts at trying to correct that error have been expectedly unsccessful and what is required fom our new leader is the guts to sort this out and take on the EU with the same aggression they show to us.
Western countries have become too wealthy. The annual cash flow is enormous and it just keeps coming. It seems everyone wants a small piece. Every man made crisis is out to get a piece from the 2008 banking crisis that were bailed out, too big to fail, to pharmaceuticals seeking direct liability free funding from country treasuries (what a dream) to NGOs & government agencies creating a climate crisis to ensure their slice of the pie. Our elected politicians forming our governments are losing control and many are actively participating in this abuse. Meanwhile ordinary hardworking tax paying middle class people keep putting up with this abuse by elites. The time for revolution is fast approaching.