Inside Politics: Amis pour toujours?

National Grid warns of rolling energy blackouts this winter as Truss and Macron signal new era for UK-France relations, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Get the turkey and veg in the oven now – there might not be enough energy to cook it come Christmas time.

Inside the bubble

Commons action returns on Tuesday.

Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, is on Sky News at 8.05am.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am.

Daily briefing

Rolling on a blackout

What a day! chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng told his party conference on Monday, following a U-turn on abolishing the top rate of tax for the rich. And what a week it has proved to be – the next one is shaping up to be blockbuster too, as increasingly mutinous Tory MPs return to Westminster from their constituencies. It feels like there is an uneasy calm this morning, with a few days of space between the end of the conference season and the resumption of Commons business on Tuesday, although the headlines once again make grim reading for Liz Truss, who could be forgiven for wanting to extend her stay in Prague. A new poll says more than half of voters think she and Kwarteng should resign – as Labour calls for inquiries into a number of ethics issues at No 10.

Stories about the UK facing potential rolling blackouts this winter if gas imports fall short of demand splash all but two of the major papers and feature prominently on a host of news websites. National Grid said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created “unprecedented turmoil and volatility” in energy markets, adding that there could be pre-planned power cuts across the country in three-hour slots to give priority to power plants.The UK is less reliant on Russia for gas than some of its neighbours in Europe, although a significant amount of electricity (47 per cent in August) here is generated by burning the fossil fuel. National Grid said outages were “unlikely” but possible even without a drop-off in gas supplies if cold weather coincided with no electricity imports from Europe and low wind energy generation.

Speaking while in the Czech Republic capital at the first meeting of the European Political Community, Truss pleaded with other leaders to help “keep the lights on” this winter. In a broadcast interview while there, the PM was unable to rule out blackouts – despite saying in the summer during her successful run for the Tory leadership campaign that there would be no need for rationing in the months ahead. National Grid, meanwhile, urged households to help avoid blackouts, “save money and back Britain” by using more energy during off-peak times. Nestled five pars down in this morning’s Times story on blackouts is a jaw-dropping revelation that No 10 has blocked a public information campaign encouraging people to save energy. It was blocked amid claims “Truss is ideologically opposed”, the paper’s politics editor reports.

Meanwhile, the North Sea Transition Authority announced it will invite energy firms to apply to explore and develop oil and gas fields. Jacob Rees Mogg, the business secretary, said it is “more important than ever” to make the most of domestic energy resources amid the war in Ukraine. But climate groups warned the move will do “precious little” to increase gas production or lower bills.

(PA)

French connection UK

There is slightly more positive news for the PM on the foreign front, following yesterday’s inaugural meeting of the European Political Community.

Truss and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, appear to be friends now, with both leaders striking an optimistic tone following their meeting at the event.

Truss said Macron is a “friend”, while the French president said he hopes relations between the two countries have entered a new phase following years of bitter tensions over Brexit.

The pair also “agreed to deepen cooperation on illegal migration within the bounds of international law, to tackle criminal groups trafficking people across Europe, ending in dangerous journeys across the Channel”.

How long will it last?

Today’s cartoon

See all of The Independent’s daily cartoons here

(Dave Brown)

On the record

Truss fails to rule out blackouts after saying during Tory leadership contest there will be no energy rationing this winter.

“We’re working very hard on energy security, it’s one of the reasons I am here in Prague today. We have interconnectors with our European partners, we’re working on more gas supplies, we’re working on building out nuclear energy, building out wind energy, so we do have a secure supply of energy.”

From the Twitterati

Journalist Sam Freedman on the Tory Party’s current woes.

“You have to be a long way off the reservation to make Dorries and Rees-Mogg the voices of moderation.”

Essential reading

• Andrew Woodcock, The Independent: Thank you, Kwasi Kwarteng, for turning the Tory party conference into something remarkable
• James Moore, The Independent: Fitch has taken a dim view of the UK’s credit outlook – does it matter?
• James Forsyth, The Spectator: Crash course – how the Truss revolution came off the road
• Mary Dejevsky, The Independent: Does Liz Truss’s Prague visit signal a post-Brexit path back to Europe?

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