Five years ago, Labour-dominated Nottingham Council launched ‘Robin Hood Energy’, a council owned energy company designed to take on the Big Six. When it was launched, the project was lauded by figures on the left as a socially just way to deliver energy. Jeremy Corbyn even signed up, becoming their most famous customer…

Around the same time Bristol’s Labour-controlled City Council launched a similar company. They did not get off to good starts, with both firms reporting significant losses, requiring more and more financial backing from local taxpayers. In June, Bristol Council finally decided to sell off their cumbersome public enterprise.

Robin Hood Energy for its part has now been condemned by auditors after the council diverted tens of millions of residents’ money in a desperate attempt to save their vanity project. Guido can’t help wondering how millionaire Corbyn feels about his home energy deal being kept low, subsidised by diverting tens of millions from Nottingham residents – a city with some of the most deprived areas in the country. Taking from poor taxpayers and giving to the rich seems to be Jeremy’s version of Robin Hood…