Desperate times call for desperate measures. The UK has rightly supported Ukraine’s cause in its war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Today’s soaring gas prices are as much a weapon in Putin’s fight as missiles directed at Ukraine and, like them, they will kill. It would be a crime and a folly to let the domestic costs of the war fall disproportionately on the least well off. Solidarity in sharing these burdens is obligatory. So, too, is willingness to shed shibboleths. In wartime, markets are not sacrosanct. Price controls, even rationing, must be on the table.
危急時刻呼喚非常措施。英國正確地支持烏克蘭抵抗弗拉迪米爾•普丁(Vladimir Putin)領導的俄羅斯所發起的戰爭。在普丁手裏，當下不斷飆升的天然氣價格是一件武器，就像對準烏克蘭的飛彈一樣，而且就像飛彈，高昂的天然氣價格會殺人。讓這場戰爭的國內成本不成比例地落在最不富裕的人身上，將是一種犯罪和愚蠢行爲。團結起來分擔這些負擔是很有必要的。擺脫陳詞濫調的意願也是如此。在戰時，市場並不是神聖不可侵犯的。價格管制，甚至配給供應，都必須擺在桌面上。