Shockwave: Suez: The crisis that humbled Britain

A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world?

It's 1956 and the UK and France have joined forces to attack Egypt. What became known as the Suez Crisis ended with a humiliating climbdown for the UK and France. “Suez” became a byword for the UK’s declining status on the world stage. Petrol rationing was introduced, the UK was plunged into an economic crisis, nationwide anti-war protests sprang up and prime minister Anthony Eden was forced to resign. Exposed to the risks of importing fossil fuels from abroad, the UK was forced to reckon with its energy supply. In the years that follow we see explorations of nuclear power and ultimately North Sea oil and gas.

In this episode of Shockwave, we're asking: is today’s energy crisis really that novel? Why are we still so reliant on imported fossil fuels? And is the North Sea the answer to our energy woes?

Katrina Gaffney was joined by New Economics Foundation economists Dr Alex Chapman and Jaya Sood, alongside writer and academic Gareth Fearn, to find out.

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The National Energy Guarantee: neweconomics.org/2023/04/the-nati…energy-guarantee The Private Finance Myth: neweconomics.org/2026/04/the-private-finance-myth

Produced by Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney.

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Music by Maarten Schellekens, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-…ike-clockwork/ used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.