Bull in a china shop

It’s easy to see why Alistair Darling was tempted. The UK economy is in trouble – the country faces a «dangerous» year, according to his boss Gordon Brown – inflation is stubbornly high and the government is embroiled in a politically tense campaign to impose wage restraint on the public sector. Under the circumstances, the decision by nPower, the UK’s fourth largest energy retailer, to raise certain retail energy prices by 27%, pushing the average household bill above £1,000, was a red flag to ...