Stephen Pollard

Iran’s strike last night on the Ras Laffan facility in Qatar is a significant escalation. It risks a prolonged supply crunch on the global LNG market. Yet here at home, the Chancellor says all countries must play their part in boosting oil and gas production - while her own Energy Secretary bans new drilling in the North Sea. Ed Miliband’s position is untenable. Those desperate to shut down our own industry will say it takes too long to get our own wells up and running. They argue it won’t make a difference to the current crisis. This is bogus. By autumn, Jackdaw could be producing enough gas to heat 1.6 million homes. All of it will go into our pipes. The approval has been sat on Ed Miliband’s desk for months. If the conflict is not resolved, we will be in for difficult times. Turning our backs on the tax revenue and extra supply from the North Sea is inexcusable. However, so too is Ed Miliband’s other mistake. He has spent the last two years making electricity expensive, when he should have been making it cheaper. If you want people to use electricity to heat their homes or drive their cars, we need to address the biggest problem we have - our electricity is too expensive. Our Cheap Power plan could have been adopted by the Government by now to cut everyone’s electricity bills by 20%. Expensive electricity has stopped consumers from adopting technology which gives them options in energy price spikes. We also need to cherish our industrial power. The crippling Carbon Taxes - which have doubled because of Labour’s policies - mean we lost a third of our refineries last year alone. That makes us more reliant on imports at the worst moment. In the longer term, renewables tie us to gas as we always need flexible power that we can ramp up when the wind stops blowing. Yet Labour’s plan means that gas power gets four times more expensive. The Government must reinstate my plans for a third large-scale nuclear plant. That’s why our Energy Resilience Strategy is as follows: BACK THE NORTH SEA MAKE ELECTRICITY CHEAP STOP IMPOSING CRIPPLING CARBON TAXES ON INDUSTRY DOUBLE DOWN ON NUCLEAR

This Labour MP wants me investigated and silenced. He makes my case for me. Labour’s rebranded “Islamophobia” definition is designed to censor us. So Mr Khan, here’s my reply: Get lost.

This might actually be Trump's funniest moment 😂 Japanese Reporter: Why didn't you tell us before you struck Iran? Trump: "Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" 💀🔥😂

Very sad to learn of the death of Len Deighton, who was one of the two greatest spy thriller writers of all time and in some regards was Le Carre’s superior. Anyone who has not read Deighton should try Funeral in Berlin, Bomber or SSGB. Most of all they should seek out Berlin Game, the start of an epic 10 book Cold War series focused on Bernard Samson. Deighton’s writing was sharp, satirical, gripping and often amusing. His office infighting in the intelligence services was delicious and his characters are beautifully drawn. The Samson cycle starts with a meticulously plotted run of five books (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, Spy Hook and Spy Line) which all stand alone but tell one big story from the jaded but dedicated perspective Bernard a brilliant field operative. Len’s genius idea was to use the sixth, Spy Sinker, to retell the whole cycle from the perspective of everyone else, exposing what Bernard didn’t know and misunderstood. There is then an origin story about Bernard’s dad during the war, Winter, and then a concluding trilogy of Faith, Hope and Charity, which is not as high quality but deals with the fallout from the events of books 1-5. It’s an epic achievement and the greatest long series in spy fiction, accepting that the Smiley series is the greatest short series. Do yourself a favour, give it a try

Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan - which declares there is no god but allah and Muhammad is his messenger - is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions. And given their explicit repudiation of Christianity they certainly do not belong in our churches and cathedrals. I am not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night is an Islamist. But the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook. Trafalgar Square belongs to all of us. It is a national memorial to our independence and our salvation. Last night was not like a televised football match or a St Patrick’s Day celebration. It was an act of domination and therefore division. It shouldn’t happen again.

“They're producing more terrorists than they're killing.” Israel’s campaigns against Hamas and Iran have produced “more radicals” than they have killed, US security expert Robert Pape says.