Power Plonkers

Germany falls behind Iraq in the global security ranking in terms of electricity supply

Germany's electricity supply performs surprisingly poorly in a new international study. The British Adam Smith Institute ranks Germany 69th out of 187 countries in the security ranking. This puts Germany behind Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kyrgyzstan. In terms of electricity generation that can be called up at any time, Germany even ranks only 180th, with the growing share of weather-dependent energy sources and the simultaneous loss of conventional power plant capacities decisive. The results highlight structural challenges for industry, households and long-term security of supply.

The UK is ranked 41st, just behind Brazil.

A radical devolution of waste

Budget 2026: Chancellor promises Sadiq Khan 'radical devolution of power' to fire up London

John Healey urged by bosses to champion the capital to boost the economy

He made the pledge as he faced growing calls to give Lord Sadiq Khan major new tax powers to fire up London, the nation’s economic engine.

The Chancellor was urged to devolve to the London Mayor a proportion of income tax and business rates revenue that “fairly reflects the tax receipts the capital generates”.

A sceptic's eye may be inclined to see a 'radical devolution of power' as a Blairite devolution of waste, fraud, bungling and blame.

Maybe it's the egalitarian approach to squandering other people's money, spread the squandering.

John Healey: casting the runes

A Telegraph piece full of hope that John Healey might not be the dismal failure that rational folk probably expect. It's a reasonable expectation unfortunately, based on the man's long and far from illustrious political career. 

To my mind the headline says it all.

John Healey: The trade unionist with his hands on the public purse

Andy Burnham’s long political experience counts against him in some quarters.

As the Westminster joke goes: “A Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynista walk into a bar. The barman says, ‘What can I get for you, Mr Burnham?’”

Yet his Chancellor, John Healey, does not get the same reception, despite having served even more Labour leaders.

He has been a minister, in opposition or as a shadow minister under each leader since Sir Tony Blair was elected in 1997.

Conservatives worry. A man who served under Jeremy Corbyn now has his hands on the public purse.

So as he prepares to present his maiden Budget, who is the real John Healey?

No one can doubt that he is dyed-in-the-wool Labour. Healey met his wife at a trade union conference.

Chocolate-coated waffles

Full list of food items targeted for price cuts in Budget 2026

The cost of certain supermarket staples, including baked beans, gherkins and chocolate will be cut as part of five “everyday fixes” unveiled by the government.

Tariffs on a range of foods will be slashed to bring down their prices, the chancellor and prime minister have announced as part of a series of measures to address heightened living costs, expected to be included in Wednesday’s budget.

Products included in the chancellor's tariff cuts:

• Garlic
• Gherkins
• Citrus jams, marmalades and pastes
• Throat pastilles and cough drops
• Boiled sweets
• Toffees, caramels and similar sweets
• Plant-based beverages
• Chocolate-coated waffles/wafers
• Kerosene
• Fertilisers

Oh dear, it seems as if Treasury thugs are already making fun of The Right Honourable John Healey MP, Chancellor and Under Treasurer of His Majesty’s Exchequer. 

And that Burnham chap of course, but what the blue blazes are chocolate-coated waffles?

Labour need to stop using smoke and mirrors accounting

Tim Dier has a very useful CAPX piece on Labour's fascination with smoke and mirrors accounting used to flatter debt figures via Public Financial Institutions. The whole piece is well worth reading as an antidote to any lingering hopes that John Healey might turn out to be a responsible Chancellor.


Labour need to stop using smoke and mirrors accounting

• Public Financial Institutions, or PuFins, are being used to flatter the debt figures
• The Government needs to demonstrate budgetary restraint – not an increasing reliance on financial wheezes
• To balance the budget and cut debt, we need to clip the PuFins’ wings

Imagine borrowing £10,000 from the bank, lending it to a friend, then telling everyone the debt’s gone – because your friend owes you the money.

In his first Budget, John Healey will likely use PuFins to bury even more borrowing, channelling billions into Labour’s pet projects

Public Financial Institutions (PuFin) are publicly-funded bodies that invest taxpayer money via loans, equity investments and guarantees – with the aim of encouraging or ‘crowding in’ private capital, driving policy goals such as green energy or other infrastructure investment.

As I explain in my latest research, prior to 2024, borrowing for PuFins showed up in public sector net debt excluding Bank of England (PSND ex BoE), just as borrowing to build a road would. This handbrake kept the Government honest and meant PuFins were used sparingly.

But in Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, she changed the fiscal rules, from considering PSND ex BoE to considering public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL).

This meant that the ‘investments’ that PuFins make could largely offset the debt taken on to fund them. Almost like magic, the debt all but disappears from plain sight and barely registers against the fiscal rules.

That’s obviously nonsensical – you still owe the same £10,000 to the bank, regardless of what you did with the money. But that’s Labour’s approach to our public finances. Let me explain how it works.

Writing quite openly about water-closets

From Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel, Mrs Dalloway.

Those five years—1918 to 1923—had been, he suspected, somehow very important. People looked different. Newspapers seemed different. Now for instance there was a man writing quite openly in one of the respectable weeklies about water-closets. That you couldn’t have done ten years ago—written quite openly about water-closets in a respectable weekly.

Today we might smile as perhaps Woolf's readers were expected to smile. After all, one is expected to be progressive and perfectly comfortable about discussing water-closets. 

From water-closets, Woolf moves on to other radical trends we easily recognise today. No tattoos yet though.  

And then this taking out a stick of rouge, or a powder-puff and making up in public. On board ship coming home there were lots of young men and girls—Betty and Bertie he remembered in particular—carrying on quite openly; the old mother sitting and watching them with her knitting, cool as a cucumber. The girl would stand still and powder her nose in front of every one. And they weren’t engaged; just having a good time; no feelings hurt on either side. As hard as nails she was—Betty What’shername—; but a thorough good sort. She would make a very good wife at thirty—she would marry when it suited her to marry; marry some rich man and live in a large house near Manchester.

These tools

800 Scottish public sector workers being paid for jobs that don’t exist – report

The Sunday Times reports around 800 NHS workers no longer have a fixed role but remain on the public payroll, at a cost of at least £27m per year...

In response to the reports, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our policy for no compulsory redundancies remains. Public bodies are expected to ensure that they deliver value for money and to see that all staff, including those who are redeployed, are engaged in appropriate work for their pay scale.

“For example, the NHS has clear redeployment policies that helps boards to make use of staff with experience and expertise even while their posts may change.

“Public bodies manage their workforce through steps such as redeployment, attrition, vacancy management, reskilling and, where necessary, voluntary severance.

“These tools will form part of our work to deliver public service reform – focusing on frontline delivery, with the right staff in the right roles to deliver real improvements in public services.”

“These tools will form part of our work..." It's my puerile sense of humour I suppose, given the headline I smiled at that.