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One of the hallmarks of this dogmatic Labour government is to face two different directions at the same time.

They have taken us all for fools but, one by one, people are waking up to the madness.

Take net zero zealot Ed Miliband as a prime example.

The Energy Secretary goes to bed at night dreaming of decarbonising the UK's electricity system in record time.

But ask anyone filling up with fuel at their local petrol forecourt if they share his obsession and the answer, one imagines, is a resounding no, but delivered in more agricultural terms.

Miliband - a possible successor to dead man walking prime minister Sir Keir Starmer - is so high-handed and one-eyed about powering the country by the sun and the wind that he cannot see what others do.

Everyone knows his obsession is making us all poorer and significantly more vulnerable, yet he carries on regardless.

But now big beast industry chiefs are chipping in with even the boss of British Gas - not a company known for its reasonably-priced gas and electricity - demanding this pitiful government drop its ban on exploiting untapped oil and gas fields in the North Sea so we at least we could do something to bolster the UK's fragile energy security - and lower bills.

Centrica boss Chris O'Shea, who received (and, yes, you are reading this correctly) a total remuneration package of £8.2 million in 2023, said an increase in drilling would help lower prices across Europe.

He said: "It's not a silver bullet, nothing in and of itself will fix this, but these activities will bring prices down. It would definitely make a difference."

Mr O'Shea has joined a chorus of calls including Renewables UK, Octopus Energy, the GMB trade union, and even Sir Tony Blair, to drill in the North Sea.

But, of course, Miliband knows best.

Diesel now stands at its highest price for more than three years with the average at £171.17p a litre. Petrol is hurtling towards 150p a litre.

The UK economy - barely functioning at present - is currently at the mercy of geopolitics because we are so heavily reliant on oil and diesel imports, leaving us with no option but to pay exorbitant prices at the pumps.

Unlike Norway, which has successfully plundered for the past 20 years.

Easter is on the horizon and a barrel of oil has been trading well over $100 for days meaning millions of families will continue to be fleeced at the forecourt.

While it is true Labour has not banned all oil drilling, it has slapped a ban on new oil and gas exploration licenses in the North Sea. Existing licenses, including major projects already in development, are allowed to continue to manage the transition to net zero sustainably.

And therein lies the problem, one that is only likely to get much worse. Britain has no contingency when things go pear-shaped, as they rather have a habit of doing recently.

Labour promised to end new exploration drilling and Miliband is so immoveable in his blinkered vision that even a likely recession cannot persuade him to deviate. To him household misery because of our dependence on imported supplies is a price - literally in this case - worth paying.

No matter that it will make life harder and more expensive, misfiring Miliband has ignored all calls to row back on his eco crusade.

His vision states Britain will legally become a clean energy superpower and reach net zero - the point at which the balance between greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out is zero - by 2050.

Key elements include doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power, quadrupling offshore wind, and an electric vehicle push.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves - wrong on almost everything to date - said: "To build national resilience, energy security and economic growth, we need nuclear.

"We're overhauling the system - cutting duplicative, overly complex rules holding back ambition.

"In an uncertain world, this government's economic plan is the right one."

But, as the past three weeks have shown in stark detail, Britain is finally waking up to the fact this is just a lot of hot air.