Political opinion with John Milne MP: Cost of energy must come down
This week has been dominated by a dramatic rise in the cost of petrol and, especially, heating oil. There’s at least one supplier in Horsham which has doubled its prices overnight, and I’m hearing similar stories from across the country.
I raised this issue with Chancellor Rachel Reeves in Parliament, and as I write, the government has announced a £53million support package. It’s not the Chancellor’s fault that Donald Trump attacked Iran, but it is her fault that we have no growth and a cost of living crisis.
In the short term, the Liberal Democrats are asking for VAT to be zero-rated on heating oil for the next 3 months. But what we really need is an equivalent to the energy price cap that protects electricity and gas customers. For heating oil, there’s nothing to soften the blow. A high percentage of these households are older residents in rural areas living on fixed incomes. They are not well placed to cope with sudden price shocks.
All of this is a result of Trump’s latest military adventure. What is important is not to get drawn into the war directly ourselves – in other words, a policy which is the opposite of what was suggested by Badenoch and Farage. If either of them had been Prime Minister on February 28, we would already be in a state of war by now.
Our resources should continue to be directed towards the war in Ukraine, which has massive implications for Europe, not Netanyahu’s war in Iran.
Not very long ago, Trump was saying he didn’t need any help, and he insulted British troops as cowards. Now he’s demanding we send ships to the Straits of Hormuz, an extremely risky mission, where they would be highly vulnerable to attacks launched from the shores of Iran just a few miles away.
NATO has been the most successful alliance in history. But we now have to reckon on the possibility that the US will not remain a member. This is more serious for the UK than anyone else because our defence capabilities are so closely intertwined. Achieving our strategic independence is a long journey, but it needs to start now.
Trump tells the world that Americans can relax because they produce enough oil at home. His indifference to what he has inflicted on Britain and his allies is staggering. It seems that ‘America First’ means ‘America Only’.