http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8494899.stm

It shows what a huge scam the privatisation's were.

That and the government's lack of investment in our own energy generation.

Yes but the whole industry was privatised, apart from the nuclear industry which they could not sell with the potential clean up liabilities. So the government really had no excuse to invest. That was the responsibility of the private companies.

Once they had become private companies they only had to maximise shreholder return. Investing in capacity was not a requirement and hasnt been made a requirement by succesive governments.. The power companies will just use it as an excuse to ramp up the cost until finally the government steps in (about 15 years to late but what the hell)

We've got all this lovely gas that we could use to make polymers.

Let's burn it all.

The French are idiots

[/sarcasm]

We have tonnes of coal ready and waiting, we just won't build the power stations as companies and politicians all want to look green.

maybe we should all be taking candle making courses or even make Recycled Candles
best of both worlds create illumination and recycling all at the same time …

http://www.envocare.co.uk/candle_making.htm

greedy private energy company's and even greedier shareholders
i wonder if they will be able to read their share returns in the dark …

Yes I do blame the governments for the mess. New Labour basically copied the Thatcherite agenda and so we are now suffering from the consequences of lack of planning.

in 1997 a lot of people in the UK had high hopes of new labour, unfortunately so much of that hope was shattered and politicians of all parties showed far too often that the only thing that interested them (apart from re-election) was how much cold they screw out of the tax payer.

I think that politicians are more interested in personal and financial advancement. Screwing the public comes as a bonus. They rush through legislation so that is it is poorly considered and that the executive get away with incompetence. That is aimed at the two main parties. The tories are already looking at how they can personally benefit. Long term the solution is to nationalise any company that fails to maintain energy supplies. Then the government can ensure that adequate investment is made.