Each day FT Leader writers on the Editorial Board meet to discuss the topics to be considered for Leader columns. Here are the issues that dominated this week:
Our
leader on the ongoing rail strikes recognised that, like many other parts of the economy, particularly in the public sector, the appeal for higher wages is understandable after pay freezes amid high inflation.
The quid pro quo is crucial, though: “As part of any settlement, the [rail] union has to accept that the industry is changing.”
As for Germany’s decision to boost coal-fired energy as the primary means to cope with limited gas supplies from Russia, we used this as a peg to opine on
the broader point of policymakers’ misguided response to energy policy amid war in Ukraine.
Boosting renewables must be the main focus, we urged: “Bureaucracy needs streamlining, and investment accelerated in modernising power grids and developing storage.”
In the days ahead, we are likely to return to the topic of Covid, and how health policies need to adapt as the virus adapts.