Dave Gardner

National polling and the result of the Gorton and Denton byelection has shown the British voters’ fury with the way in which the established political parties have damaged living standards over the past four years. Yet mainstream politicians are oddly reluctant to explain their failure, citing as one of the causes ‘the war in Ukraine’ or ‘Russia’s full-scale invasion’, rather than the actions of European countries in refusing to buy and sanctioning Russian energy products. Depriving Europe and the UK of cheap energy was a deliberate political choice of mainstream politicians, approved of by state and oligopoly owned media. Inevitably, as cheap Russian energy was restricted, the cost of producing goods and services using energy increased vastly. As a result the British public has been misled about the energy price increase. Because all the political parties, barring the Workers’ Party, together with the mainstream media, deliberately fail to mention the cause of the hike in energy costs, the voters know who is to blame (mainstream politicians) but not why they deserve to be blamed. If they knew that, then they would demand an end to the war. They would be even more angry if some numbers were put on that cost. ‘Labour Affairs’ will outline just what these are.

First there are the direct costs. Since 2022, we have spent £21.8 billion in subsidising Ukraine. The UK government admits this. But they do not publicise the costs of increased energy. These are staggering: 

According to analysis by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and climate change think tank E3G, the UK’s dependency on fossil fuels led to £183 billion in direct economic impacts from 2021 to 2025 resulting from actions taken against Russian energy exports following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. These costs can be broken down as follows:

Component of Cost	Estimated Amount (£bn)	Description
Extra Household Energy & Fuel Costs	£59	Additional spending by households on gas, electricity, and road fuels since 2021 .
Extra Business & Public Sector Energy Costs	£65	Increased energy bills for businesses and public sector bodies over the same period .
Government Support Schemes (Net Cost)	~£55	Government borrowing for energy bill support (£64bn), partially offset by windfall taxes on energy companies (£12.5bn). The net cost to public finances is around £55bn.
Energy Supplier Bankruptcies	£4.5	Costs associated with the failure of over 30 energy suppliers during the crisis .
Total Direct Energy Crisis Costs	£183	The sum of the quantifiable direct costs from 2021-2025.

To put this figure into perspective, this £183bn cost is more than the £177bn that NHS England spent on health services in 2024/25 . It equates to approximately £6,400 per household. This figure gives us some idea of the costs imposed up to now. But ongoing energy costs will continue to impact on living standards and on the ability of the economy to grow. For example, the BBC reports: “Households struggling to make ends meet have fallen behind on energy payments, leading to a collective debt to suppliers of well over £4bn.” We are collectively freezing for Ukraine, without being told that that is what we are doing.

Although reindustrialisation is much trumpeted, it won’t happen when energy costs are prohibitive. The Financial TimesAI website ‘Ask FT’gives a good overview of the impact of  high energy costs on the economy:

First there is the impact on international competitiveness:

“UK manufacturers are paying significantly more for energy than international competitors. Industrial energy costs in Britain are four times higher than in the US and 46 per cent above the global average. UK industrial electricity prices are the highest in the developed world, with manufacturers paying almost four times more per kilowatt-hour than they would in the US.”

Then there is the collapse in manufacturing output:

“Output in the UK’s energy-intensive industries fell by a third between 2021 and 2024, reaching a 35-year low. Specific sectors have been severely affected: Paper and paper products manufacturing contracted by 28.9% Petrochemicals plunged by 30.2% Inorganic non-metallic products (concrete, cement, glass, ceramics) fell by 30.6% Basic metals output dropped by 46.5%. Britain’s domestic crude steel production fell to just 4 million tonnes in 2024 — the lowest total since the Great Depression of the 1930s”

Then there is stagnation in investment and growth:

“High energy costs are preventing manufacturers from investing in growth. Simon Boyd from structural engineering firm Reidsteel said the government’s net zero strategy was “destroying” UK manufacturing: “The whole strategy is anti-growth because now we are just trying to keep our heads above water, not invest”. Stephen Phipson, Make UK’s chief executive, warned of “passive deindustrialisation” and said that without addressing high industrial energy costs, the country risks its security.” (LA note: net zero may well be contributing, but it is dishonest not to mention the major cause of energy price hikes, namely the refusal to buy cheap Russian energy products).

In other words, according to the fountainhead of international global capital, the Financial Times, the UK’s security is imperilled by its war of choice in Ukraine, based on a lie. 

It is worth recalling that when a peace settlement was on the table at Istanbul in April 2022, it was Boris Johnson, ex-prime minister who, with the approval of the US and UK governments, pressurised the Ukraine government to reject the deal, which would have allowed the Donbass oblasts of Luhansk and Donetsk to remain within the Ukrainian republic. Successive British governments have also opposed the Russian ‘Istanbul plus’ offer from June 2024 which could also have formed the basis for an end to the war. Currently they appear to be supporting Ukraine’s desire to continue the way for another three years. When reasons are offered for this stance, it is stated that any ‘appeasement’ of Russia will lead to further aggression and invasion of Europe including the UK and that if we do not act ‘we will all be speaking Russian’. That this is nonsense is confirmed by the head of US intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who stated in January that the Russian military does not have the capacity to invade and occupy the whole of Ukraine, let alone other European countries. The government lies to the public about the so-called Russian threat.

The costs of the Ukraine war on the UK public and economy, past, present and future, are staggering. We are not even mentioning here the danger of annihilation in a shooting war with Russia, which the parties are apparently courting through their aggressive stance towards the Russian Federation. They are causing severe damage to our society. This war is based on a false premise and lies. Yet Labour, Liberals, Conservatives and Greens support this policy, as does Reform. ‘Your Party’ apparently opposes war, which is very nice to know, but they fail to address this vital issue, probably because imperialist sentiment is deeply embedded in the membership and leadership. 

We should not be surprised that the British people are unhappy with the way in which the country is being run. Neither should we be surprised that they are being lied to by the political parties. All the parties, with the exception of the Workers Party, are a part of the vassalage to the US which we are all subject to, secured by the capture of Britain’s political class by the US.  It is a source of regret that the voters in Gorton and Denton were not given a chance to vote for the Workers Party in the recent by-election, although there were reasons for this.