Energy crisis: why ‘keep calm but cut down’ may be a better message for Labour

Government keen to avoid panic as oil price surges, but perhaps households need advice on reducing consumption

Labour ministers sent out in recent days to respond to the looming energy crisis sparked by the Iran war have essentially stuck to that reassuring wartime slogan: keep calm and carry on.

“I think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to bring energy bills down,” James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.