Seventy years ago this winter, the streets of Britain fell eerily quiet. After one last panic buying spree, many garages shut, and traffic even in the heart of London dwindled away. The formal introduction of petrol rationing had begun, limiting drivers to 200 miles’ worth a month – with exceptions for farmers, doctors and vicars – after the Suez crisis blocked fuel supplies from the Gulf.

Ancient history now, of course – or it would be if it weren’t for what looks increasingly like the US’s own version of Suez: a great power starting a war it seemingly doesn’t know how to finish, against an enemy it woefully underestimated. If the strait of Hormuz – the vital shipping lane now rendered unsafe for shipping by Iranian drones and mines – cannot soon be reopened, then Britain could be only weeks away from needing to ration fuel, the former BP executive (and government adviser) Nick Butler warned on Monday morning.

Since nothing guarantees the panic buying of petrol like the fear that other idiots might soon start panic buying petrol, he may not be thanked in Whitehall for mentioning something that hopefully will never come to pass. But Butler was only stating the obvious: if this crisis goes on long enough to create a physical shortage of oil, then critical users like the emergency services would have to be prioritised somehow, and other countries are already being forced into drastic steps. Pakistan has closed schools and put government offices on a four-day week, Vietnam is urging people to work from home, and Bangladesh has stationed soldiers at fuel depots........

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