As global energy prices skyrocket, and fears rise of a direct blow to British households’ bills, my mind returns to the most infuriating video on the internet.

The year is 2010 and Nick Clegg – fresh-faced, soon to become Deputy Prime Minister, and yet to encounter the depths of tuition-free betrayal or the highs of a Silicon Valley payday – is talking about plans for new nuclear power stations in Britain. New nuclear, he declares, is “not even an answer” to the need for more energy supply because “there’s no way they’re going to have new nuclear come on stream until about 2021 or 2022”.

Well, it’s 2026 and he got his wish, and we are living with the consequences. The last new nuclear power plant in this country opened in 1995, and the next – after much vacillation, delay and additional regulatory cost – won’t open until 2030.

Domestic British electricity generation in 2025 was 321.85 Terawatt-hours according to OurWorldInData – down from a peak of 406.67 in 2005. Shockingly, that means that this country currently generates as much electricity as it did back in 1989.

Renewable energy has grown massively as a share of supply, for reasons which are extremely well-rehearsed. But renewables also need baseload power provision; that is, a back-up to keep the lights on when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. By phasing out coal while keeping nuclear only as a dwindling portion of the picture, we remain heavily........

© iNews