Keir Starmer calling for an energy bill freeze is a significant political moment.
The Labour leader proposing the cost be held at £1,971 for a typical household instead of rocketing to a predicted £3,582 in October then £4,266 early next year is a solution deserving wider support and puts the Conservatives on the spot.
Because excuses, objections and hand-wringing from the Tories means the party in power is sacrificing families.
Callously abandoning people to global costs inflated by companies who are profiting from Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
We must be protected from scorching energy bills that unless checked would destroy family budgets and literally force people to choose between heating and eating.
The implications of a freeze – from subsidising suppliers to introducing public ownership– need to be finalised.
But shielding folk from ruinous rises should be a given.
Afghan regret
The abandonment of Afghanistan to the Medieval, theocratic Taliban a year ago was a moment of national shame.
The disorderly retreat illustrated how Britain blindly follows the US on foreign policy.
British troops bravely worked to evacuate those we owed a debt of honour. But it is a huge regret that thousands were left behind and Conservative promises to get them out were disgracefully worthless in so many cases.
Withdrawing British troops was a noble strategic goal yet the Taliban’s swift seizure of power illustrated that we and occupying allies never built a new nation and the deaths of 454 service personnel may have been in vain.
Wild weather
IT never rains but it pours... After experiencing extreme temperatures the country is set to be hit by thunderstorms.
Downpours on parched land could create flooding, despite parts of the country being in drought. These wild weather swings are a climate change cost we cannot afford to pay.
