Energising the debate

All the hue and cry about Ed Miliband's proposed policy of an energy price freeze illustrates that it is a potential electoral game-changer.  Any hopes that the Conservatives had of riding a surging economic wave to a governing majority could be dashed on the rocks if the living standards of many are not raised by it and fuel poverty has drastically increased in the last few years.  I myself have noticed my electricity and gas basic bill more than double over the past year - maybe I should switch more between the providers but why should loyalty be punished?
Angela Knight reared her ugly head again.  No longer defending the banks in the wake of the crash and LIBOR-rigging scandal, this former Tory MP is now the spokesperson for the energy companies under the umbrella name Energy UK.  No doubt she would have scolded the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future for trying to change the ways of Ebeneezer Scrooge, so resolutely is she behind a bad cause.  Anything that comes out of her mouth is like the antonym of the trade union satire I'm Alright Jack - think of all the money the rich would lose if a price freeze went ahead!  I'm delighted that Caroline flint stuck it to her and to Peter Mandelson, a Blairite ghost in the Slimer from Ghostbusters mould, with his fingers in many energy company pies.
Then there were journalists mentioning California's rolling blackouts when these were engineered by Enron to force a recall of the Democratic governor (ushering in Arnold Schwarzenegger).  Yes, I know that investment doesn't come cheap, but we've heard too much of jam tomorrow, never jam today, like with the railways.  We've had two decades where no-one bothered to expand the energy supply and now Miliband is being blamed for future black-outs when neither the Coalition or New Labour did much about this impending energy crunch.  There is talk about uncertainty of investment but that uncertainty only exists if there is a real chance of Miliband becoming prime minister - the anger from those previously opposed to energy hikes in the newspaper middle market suggests they believe there is.