Britain’s shrinking productive class cannot keep subsidising the rest

Admitting defeat in the quest to reduce the cost of living and make us more prosperous, Labour are taking more and more from a smaller and smaller group of contributors

There is a curious pattern in British policy-making. Successive governments have made the various staples of life – housing, transport, heating, food – far more expensive than they need to be. Then ministers intervene to subsidise and reduce prices for those deemed least able to afford them.

Take energy prices. Since the Climate Change Act in 2008, or arguably the Renewables Obligation in 2002, it has been a matter of government policy to order the energy “trilemma” so that decarbonisation became a greater priority than security of supply or affordability. As a result Britain has the highest industrial energy costs in the West, and domestic energy costs that are cripplingly expensive for many families.