;)
After years of trying to load us with green taxes and beating their chests about saving the planet from global warming, politicians are rushing to tell us how worried they are about the cost of living (readers will probably want to be quite rude about this volte face, but let's try to maintain a little dignity, shall we?)
Today, The Mail is reporting that David Cameron has responded to Miliband's call for a government mandated price freeze by ordering a review into the cost of living, including green taxes.
The Coalition was riven by bitter infighting over green taxes last night after David Cameron ordered a review to stem the rise in energy bills.
Green taxes have been blamed for pushing energy prices to record levels, but the Prime Minister’s intervention met fierce opposition from the Lib Dems.
They insist the Government’s green energy targets are sacred.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said it would be ‘short-sighted and foolish’ to try to cut energy bills in the short term by tearing up the Government’s environmental policies.
I think it's fair to say that this is a case of tickling the tummies of swing voters rather than Cameron baling out from the green movement. The coalition agreement seems fairly clear that ever increasing energy costs are to be an inescapable part of life in the UK, at least until the next election.
No doubt the Liberal Democrats will go into the next election promising more of the same; the otherworldliness of the party never ceases to amaze, but their attachment to greenery will remain in place regardless. However, it will be interesting to see how the big two parties position themselves in 2015. Labour, free of the shackles of government, are able to set out their stall now, and their idea of a government-mandated price freeze may gain traction among the intellectually challenged. However, there are two years for the absurdities of the policy to be brought into the limelight, so the policy's lifetime will probably be short.
And what of the Conservatives? Will they jettison greenery, arguing that it was all those wicked LibDems that made them wreck the country? My guess is not. Greenery is part of brand Cameron, and the loss of face he would suffer if he u-turned would be immensely damaging, possibly terminally so. But if they stay on the path they are on, their core vote will split, with everyone worried about the cost of living heading for UKIP. The party therefore seems to have a choice between possible annihilation and certain annihilation. They will try to wriggle their way out of it of course, by coming up with some last minute eye-catching initiatives, and hope that the electorate will fall for it. To be frank the electorate may well do that.
It's hard to see a way for this to end well.
Bishop Hill