Energy bills: Government's policy a mess but at least you can switch suppliers

Unfortunately only a limited number of people can switch countries in the same way as ministers make an even bigger mess of their Brexit policy

The Government has renewed a promise to cap energy bills (pa)

First there was going to be a hard energy price cap, then it was kicked over to regulator OfGem, now we’re back with the Government in hard cap territory again.

With a backlash in full swing, we’ve since learned that there might not be one after all. OfGem might be a badass when its proposals emerge. So then we won’t need one.

If we do need one, the chances of getting it done by the time it gets cold look, well, slim given that there will need to be consultations, and legislation, not to mention time earmarked for dealing with the inevitable challenges.

As winter looms, there is one thing that I imagine probably unites consumer groups, the big six energy firms, and not a few of their competitors that offer the capacity for people to save quite a bit: They’d all really like to know what on earth is going on.

Ed Miliband, remember him?, was portrayed as anti free market, economically illiterate, and really no better than one of those blasted commies when he first proposed a two year energy price freeze in the run up to the last General Election but one.

It wasn’t the best handled of policies, to be sure. One of the criticisms against it was that the way it was announced gave energy companies the scope to quietly hike their prices to protect their profits (and maybe make a bit extra) ahead of its imposition.

But at least dear old “Red Ed” was consistent. We knew what he planned to do, more or less how how he planned to do it, and when it would it likely happen.

The current Government’s approach is, as with so many things that it is dealing with, frankly all over the place.

Coverage of the aftermath of Conservative Party conference has focussed on the debacle of Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech, thanks to her aides failing to secure a supply of throat lozenges and the antics of a comedian armed with a mock P45.

That’s regrettable because the PM's coughing, and the comic's larks, are frankly a sideshow. Of far more import is the twisting and turning when it comes to handling important economic issues upon which people’s prosperity rests.

The operation of Britain's domestic energy market is just one of those.

As least we know that there will be something on the way to protect the most vulnerable consumers, while most of the rest of us have the opportunity to cap prices by ourselves through switching suppliers with the aid of the internet (and more of us should be doing that, the big six energy firms would be less of a problem if we did).

It’s very much harder to protect yourself from the other, and bigger, economic issue the Government is make a truly epic mess of, unless, that is, you’re one of those lucky people who can switch country by dint of dual nationality. I am, of course, referring to Brexit. When it comes to that horror show, the rest of us are stuck with the supplier we’ve got. And, with sterling hitting the skids again, it’s one that is looking more ropey by the day.