Will an energy cutting campaign be Liz Truss’s next U-turn?

theguardian.com:

The roots of Liz Truss’s political tap dance over an energy campaign this week can be traced to the dying days of Boris Johnson’s regime.

On a sweltering Thursday in mid-July, a collection of weary suits was jolted from a post-lunch stupor at a conference in Oxford. A civil servant working in energy policy was asked whether the government was likely to launch a public information campaign on energy use this winter, with concerns over the fallout from a reduction in Russian gas supplies already mounting despite the heatwave.

The official said the issue was being discussed in Westminster but argued that “people are fatigued with being told what to do”.

“With Partygate it was clear that we were saying one thing and doing another and that feeling is still there,” she said. The thinking was clear: after repeated Covid lockdowns the public had had enough of edicts from No 10.

Three months later and attention has swung from turning up the air conditioning to turning down thermostats, and whether a concerted push to cut energy use could help prevent winter blackouts.

Truss is in the crosshairs after it emerged she blocked plans for a £15m government campaign to encourage the public to reduce their energy use, despite concerns from National Grid that there could be three-hour power cuts this winter in extreme circumstances. The row has all the hallmarks of the early Truss era: flip-flops, confusion and an ideological struggle informing decisions that affect people’s everyday lives.

Informal discussions with the government about how to talk to the public about the energy crisis have rumbled on for weeks. Despite widespread concern in Europe over energy supplies, amplified after suspected Russian sabotage on gas pipelines, Britain’s lack