Sep 7, 20223 min
We are hearing an awful lot of noise on the TV at the moment about rising energy bills with all sorts of suggestions and proposals about how these should be dealt with. For example,
We could cap energy prices to households by allowing the Government to borrow £100 billion pounds to pay the energy suppliers the difference between the capped price and what the energy suppliers charge.
Sounds reasonable on first sight, except that the borrowed money needs to be paid back, and it's you the public that will be paying it back over the next 20 years through taxes and higher bills.
In amongst all this hullabaloo about schemes to cap prices, the cause of the price rise has been forgotten. But in the acknowledgment for the cause of the price rise also lies the solution.
Gas prices have risen because Russia has decided to stop gas supplies to Europe, and this has caused a global shortage of gas, which in turn has led to an extreme rise in the price of gas on the global wholesale market.
You can hardly blame Russia for doing this. After all, the West (that includes the UK) imposed sanctions on Russia, and if we are prepared to make Russians suffer, then it's hardly surprising that Russia does the same back. The West has a tendency to forget that it doesn't always hold the whip-hand in global situations. As the saying goes, "You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you".
It is time the British public asked themselves whether they are individually prepared to pay several thousand pounds extra every year to keep Ukraine a sovereign nation. It's a serious question. Is it right that citizens of the UK should have to freeze in their houses through winter just to prevent Ukraine going back under Soviet governance? Since when was the UK so closely affiliated with Ukraine that our citizens should suffer so much on their behalf? Perhaps we should give up the fight and let Russia take back control of Ukraine.
We don't owe Ukraine anything. They are not part of NATO, so there is no legal obligation to protect them. And Ukraine was once under Russian control. So why not again? The question must be asked, "Are we the public, individually prepared to each bear a bill of several thousand pounds every year to support Ukraine?"
It's not as if we would be condemning Ukrainians to death by withdrawing our support. In fact the sooner this war is brought to an end, the sooner Ukrainians can get back to a more peaceful way of life. It's not as if Russia isn't a civilised country. Let Russia have it.
We are all individually paying a heavy price for this war. We don't always win wars. And it's highly unlikely we will win this one. If we cannot defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting, we are not going to defeat Russia in a country on its border.
We are paying the price for this war in other ways besides energy prices. Just today, John Swinney of the Scottish Government announced that funding for public services in Scotland was being cut because so much of the budget had been spent housing Ukrainian refugees.
It is time to surrender to Russia. As the saying goes "Charity begins at home". All things considered, it would be best for everyone if the West (including the UK) gave up the fight, negotiated a surrender with Russia and brought an end to the extreme costs and hyper-inflation being wrought upon the citizens of the UK.
You may disagree with this approach. Unfortunately, the UK has too often in the past refused to acknowledge it cannot always win the battle, has spent billions of pounds of taxpayers' money and caused the needless death of thousands of young British men, simply because it refuses to countenance the very idea that it cannot win. Dunkirk and Churchillian spirit and all that nonsense.
It is time to surrender.