Water: what to do after Cunliffe?
Few people have much good to say about the water industry, and the blame game is fully engaged. But what to do? There are four possible options: continue with minimal reform; implement the recommendat...
2 Sep 202516min
Why electricity prices are so high and why renewables are not cheap
Why when solar and wind are supposed to be nine times cheaper than gas are electricity prices in the UK amongst the highest in the world? Why when the UK is supposed to be a fast track to this promis...
26 Aug 202515min
The changing net zero zeitgeist
In the mid-2030s, historians may look back and note that, despite numerous COP meetings and agreements like the Paris Agreement, global carbon emissions continued to rise, with significant contributio...
25 Jun 202512min
Fiddling the books on debt
The UK’s national debt now stands at around 100% of GDP, meaning that the country has borrowed the equivalent of an entire year’s economic output. Under current fiscal rules, the government aims to st...
8 Jun 202512min
The dark economic clouds revisited
The economic outlook for the UK is bleaker than the government would have us believe. The government's ambition to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7 by 2030 faces significant challenges. Starme...
28 Apr 202515min
Thames Water – the unacceptable face of water privatisation
How have investors managed to turn Thames Water, despite its extraordinary debt, inefficiency and poor performance, into a company that offers rich financial rewards, at least for some? The roots of t...
7 Apr 202515min
Heathrow Airport shutdown - a lesson in resilience
The recent fire at an electricity substation shut Heathrow Airport for 24 hours, causing chaos in the skies and across international airports. In doing so, it highlighted the broader critical conditio...
28 Mar 202514min
Defence versus net zero
Retreats on manifesto promises (electric vehicles and gas boilers), alongside the plans for carbon-intensive housebuilding and airport expansion, as well as renewal of the DRAX subsidy, are putting th...
14 Mar 202514min
