Mrs P and I first rented a flat in Bournemouth in 2014. It was a small, but perfectly formed, one bedroom apartment on the third floor. It was electric only, no gas. The heating was provided by low cost Economy 7 heaters, which are charged up over night when electricity is cheap. Hot water came from a tank which was also heated up at night. Our bill were about £30 per month. Two and a half years later, we moved into our current flat. It’s a much bigger, but equally modern, two bed flat. But we have gas here for our heating and hot water, courtesy of a combination boiler. Our bills doubled to about £65 per month. Which is where they stayed until last month, when they jumped to £90. In April they will jump to £135.
There are a number of reasons for this, but be in no doubt that the principle cause is down to Russia squeezing the supply of gas to Europe. I am in no doubt that this was done deliberately. There was a purpose behind it. Once again, a European country has a nationalistic dictator at the helm of an militarised authoritarian regime, who has decided that certain bits and pieces of Europe should belong to him. This is not a bolt from the blue. Putin has been murdering dissidents at home and abroad for many years. He’s deployed radioactive and biological weapons in NATO countries. He’s been taking chunks of neighbouring territory for more than a decade. He’s been launching cyberattacks worldwide. He’s been actively subverting democratic processes in Europe and the US. And we’ve let it all pass. A policy of appeasement has largely been in place.
I fail to see why Western powers are attempting to negotiate with Russia. It seems clear to me that this is futile. The West needs to simply articulate what happens next. As a starting point, Europe needs to source its gas and oil from elsewhere, permanently. NATO members needs to budget for increased military presence in the Baltics, Poland and Romania. Trade and economic sanctions should be put in place. Even if Russia were to back down now – which seems unlikely – Russia should be made to understand that there will be no talks, no negotiations, no conversation until Putin is put in a box. There will be costs to be borne on all sides. My personal cost is, at present, about £70 a month in increased energy costs. One hopes that the costs go no higher.
The Mexile 
The north European plain is a respectable gas field that has had almost no development. The governments claim the mineral rights, the surface owners are unwilling to have an oil/gas pad in their garden with no real return. The wet areas off shore are fully developed but the areas on land, almost nil. Policy problem…
As to Putin and Russia and for that matter China, the contest is between modern day Fascist systems and today’s democratic liberal economic systems, a contest similar to the last century’s 30s . The big difference this time is the advent of atomics and their whizzbang delivery set-ups . A big difference Gary.
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Putin is a total shit, and has been for decades. But what the US and Biden are doing now, firing up NATO, to me is simply a return to crazy Cold War tactics.
And these days, it’s not even about political ideology. It’s simply two guys standing out on the street with their hands on their holsters cause they don’t like the look in the other guy’s eye.
“Stand down!” I say.
Anyway, just had to leave a comment also to you to say hello again. Glad you are doing well ‘cept for the gas problem.
Ed 🙂
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Good to hear from you Ed. It’s been a long time. I hope you’re well.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting NATO troops go into Ukraine. But we in the west can choose who we mix with, and I think it’s long gone time to decide not to mix with Russia. Putin and his political party operate more like a mob boss and an organised crime cartel than a government.
A perfectly sound argument can be made that we have been at war with Russia for a number of years already.
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Fracking isn’t a popular option here. If you’re cracking in the U.K., then you’re blowing stuff up beneath peoples homes, and they do notice. I used to work in the home insurance business. There are vast swathes of the country that have wonky walls thanks to historic coal mining. Personally, I think the answer to Europe’s energy needs lies in renewables and nuclear. The success of nuclear fusion will spell instant doom for Putin. And the Arabs.
I hear your point about a MAD balance to the world order. And it’s not that I entirely disagree. But I do think it depends on rational thinking leaders on all side. Putin is a sociopath. I’m inclined to believe that things could go very wrong, very quickly. There is the potential for a lot of Europe to burn, beyond Ukraine’s borders, without nuclear fuses being lit.
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Atomics change behavior between atomic powers, even uncle Joe Stalin knew the result-Putin is not as crazy as Stalin; I’ll go on record with that statement.
Putin will not get vaporized by the US if he gobbles up Ukraine. His own people will cut his life short as a result of having every last off shore ruble locked up by the west, even paid out to whoever as compensation. Property law, has little affect in a situation where international law is being ignored . All that off shore money would be forfeit the day after the Ukraine is absorbed into the Russian state. Putin knows this, Biden has warned him, I’m sure. The spring thaw is only a few weeks away in Russia, global warming and all. A bogged down offensive is possible. The fact that Putin is a sociopath means that he’ll only go as far as he is sure he’ll not be killed. He is 30% past the point where his actions could get him killed by his crew now. An invasion would put it over 70% should it go sideways for very long.
There may be some fancy properties up for sale at the next London forfeiture auction.
On oil and gas: take a look at the Grand Canyon’s profile, coal mining would be a few hundred feet from the top, oil and gas zones are way down at the bottom, The petroleum zone on the north European plain is better than a mile down, subsidence is not possible.
I’m all for renewables, it is just that if the Russian’s want to shut off Europe’s gas-there is some local stuff to produce if policy can be altered . Just sayin.
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