The impact of higher prices on industries will be felt by small businesses without the buffer of multi-millions. My local shop could face a 400% increase in fuel bills when their contract runs out in January. By then the impact will be hitting households and shopping habits (sales of canned drinks, takeaway coffee and snacks could suffer). Thus the shop will need to lay people off.
So, short term there will need to be a pumping of money into the economy for the poor and for small business. This crisis has been a long time coming so hopefully the inefficiency, frays and corruption of the covid lockdown can be avoided. If Truss goes for a simple reduction in VAT it will have little impact on the poor, will not be a stimulus for the economy and the rich will benefit.
Why there is not a major push for insulation and alternative energy sources is mystifying and possibly corrupt. It is not a short term fix, but would be impacting by winter 2023. It would reduce demand for gas and electric, thus lowering the price of these fossil fuels. This should be a pan European policy. Moving away from dependence on Russia, and the Gulf States and the USA would seem to be a sensible option. The Gulf States are making trillions at the moment for their corrupt governments.
Yes we will need fossil fuels for a decade or so, and then we will need to wean ourselves off plastic! Technology will come to the rescue (I am a follower of “necessity is the mother of invention” first coined by Aristotle and then articulated more recently by Ester Boserup. Batteries will soon be improved, pump storage schemes in old mines and mountain areas will counter the down times of solar and wind energy. Tidal schemes will surely come into their own. Britain, and I suspect most of Europe at least was covered in small scale wind and water mills. Economies of scale may apply to manufacturing, but energy production on a small scale and locally should be the answer. We have the national grid infrastructure which could be scaled down (always useful in local emergencies due to malfunction or floods. In fact could electricity pylons be fitted with small wind/solar facilities. Already ugly, but connected?
Long term this would result in not just national self-sufficiency, also local self reliance and away from mega corporations. Could I envisage a situation in a decade where most houses are receiving energy at a guaranteed low price; where local businesses are also free from the fluctuating market for energy; larger firms (like Thatchers Cider here would, and are, investing in renewables). Houses will be energy efficient (or as possible). There will be no need for “warm banks” or even food banks as local economies will boom.
Aviation. Firstly the subsidy for aviation fuel should be scrapped immediately. Electric aircraft are being developed and the cost of fuel would accelerate this. It will be a while before these flights are even mid-length. But again we will have to suck this up! Long trips will possibly always use gasoline, but in moderation this should be ok. What we need to stop is the use of planes for short term flights, and whilst empty. ALL airports should have a fixed landing charge – which can be shared amongst passengers – or payable in full if no passengers (possibly with a surcharge). I and my children have probably flown a couple of hundred times – this is not sustainable until aviation innovates.
Transport – why is driving a car cheaper than going by train in the UK? Why can a NOB like Sleaze-Dogg drive by chauffeur to Wrexham form London and back and think that is acceptable? Nationalisation of the railways is an immediate and essential need. All contracts out to tender and publicised. HR2 is possibly to late to cancel. But if all trains are fitted with wi-fi then surely the need to cut a few minutes off a journey is irrelevant?
Housing – with 772000 second homes (presumably owned by reasonably wealthy people) there needs to be greater taxation at a local level. I think there are over 20000 holiday second homes in Cornwall – returning them to personal ownership or rental market is probably bad for the economy of Cornwall (one of the poorest areas in Northern Europe). Houses are being built in hundreds round here – a rural area with few job opportunities locally. Also few buses (being cut as well). So dependance on the motor car is essential for new owners. No new reservoirs or sewage plants being built. Daft. Whether there needs to be a policy to move people like me (single 3 bed bungalow) into a smaller property is worth discussing. But it is another change in society which needs to occur.