Tory MPs pick wrong issue at wrong time

Tory backbenchers have fastened on the EU referendum issue but their timing is wrong - wait till the eurozone starts to implode, wait till the pointless squeeze of southern europeans (pointless because it won't help them repay their debts) spills over into more disorder, wait till continental banks' need for more funds starts to hurt all over the eurozone. Let the disorder do the talking as the eurozone's governments drive their voters into an expensive cul-de-sac.

Mind you, the three line whip on the vote makes the worst of a bad job, with Hague describing demands for a referendum as 'graffiti', and Cameron expecting voters concerned about the EU to think that a promise to repatriate some powers has any political force.

It doesn't. That's firstly because the EU will continue to suck more powers into itself in a continuing process, so plucking back the odd one or two won't make any difference, and secondly because the other EU members won't vote unanimously to give us back the odd few marginal competencies which this cack-handed government would be likely to request.

So the timing's wrong. But what backbenchers should be standing up to ask is "Why are you being so feeble about my constituents' huge energy bills?" - an issue of far more immediate importance to far more of their constituents than an EU referendum.

There are several things government can do to cut energy bills:

1. Force every energy company to offer a transparent tariff based on current energy prices plus a mark up.If it takes Ofgem more than two months to draw on North American experience to produce a standard formulation, sack Ofgem. Once the new formulation has bedded in, they can probably cut 90% of Ofgem anyway.
2. Force every energy company to break out all "green" costs which make bills higher, sharpening public questioning.
3. Say shale gas is probably safe and could cut energy bills significantly, as well as saving jobs and creating new ones, so the government's stance is to welcome it, just as the UK welcomed North Sea oil.

But this dim government is supported by dim backbenchers. They supported Liam Fox - why can they not support lower energy bills?

There are lots more votes in lower energy bills than in an EU referendum.

P.S. Nick Grealy suggests shale gas could - on certain assumptions - cut the UK current account deficit by 14% and bring in additional corporation tax of £1.3bn a year. And that's before the dynamic effects of more jobs arising from cheaper energy.