After Gazprom’s tirade,…

security of supply as much as global warming drives us to nuclear

Whatever Gazprom was referring to, its comments are plainly a quite alarming development. We’ll turn off our gas as we did with Ukraine, the Russians seem to be saying, if we don’t get our way. Energy supply, it appears, may be a more potent weapon than rockets ever were.

Whether the Government would, in practice, be hostile to Gazprom were it to bid for Centrica is anyone’s guess. As things stand, ministers are keeping their counsel. Don’t expect much enlightenment when Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, shares a platform at a London conference next week with some of Gazprom’s top executives. He’s not planning any great statement of principle.

Yet if he were looking for excuses to block Gazprom, there are quite enough of them..

The Independent