UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been urged to form a “war cabinet” to treat the energy crisis as a national emergency.
A retired Royal Air Force officer said a special task force would convey a sense of urgency and would better allow the new British leader to make the difficult calls needed to ensure energy security.
The advice from Air Marshal Edward Stringer, a former head of Britain's Defence Academy, comes as Mr Sunak rethinks the energy policy he inherited from Liz Truss.
Mr Sunak is promising more nuclear power and offshore wind energy in the long term while overseeing a relief package for this winter.
Energy prices have been pushed up across Europe and plans made for possible rationing, after Russia drastically cut back gas supplies.
In a report for the right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange, Air Marshal Stringer said Mr Sunak should bring together the energy and national security aspects of the crisis.
“The PM should establish a ‘war cabinet’ to deal with the interrelated national security aspects of energy security as it would an existential wartime concern,” he wrote.
The crisis “requires difficult trade-offs to be calculated across departments”.
“It requires the urgency of wartime and a suitably empowered, task-organised command authority to deliver it,” he said.
Britain had war cabinets during the two world wars, which included only a few senior ministers and often reached across party lines.
The term was also used to describe key advisers to Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War, John Major during the Gulf War and other prime ministers at times of crisis.
“The importance of some structure like a war cabinet is necessary in part to signal the gravity of the circumstances,” Air Marshal Stringer wrote.
He said Mr Sunak should push for co-operation across Europe on how to bolster energy security in the face of Russia's cutbacks.
Mr Sunak's key advisers in the energy crisis will include Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, who will set out Britain's fiscal plans on November 17.
Mr Hunt scaled back the energy subsidies announced by Ms Truss as he sought to reassure markets about the state of Britain's finances.
Grant Shapps was appointed minister for business, energy and industrial strategy in a Cabinet reshuffle, replacing Jacob Rees-Mogg.
In his first Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Sunak signalled he would reinstate a ban on shale gas fracking that Ms Truss had moved to repeal.
He gave no clear answer when asked about onshore wind, which he opposed during the summer leadership campaign.
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
