EUROPE: Kettle rules make me boil

The reduction in the heating power of a kettle will increase, not decrease, the use of electricity.

Any 16-year-old studying GCSE physics will tell you that it takes a fixed amount of energy to heat a given mass of water from ambient temperature to boiling.

Total energy required is that fixed amount plus any heat loss until the water is boiled.

Heat energy lost is directly linked with the time taken to boil the water as losses start as soon as the temperature rises above the surroundings.

The lower the power, the slower the boil, the greater the loss.

The higher the power, the faster the boil, the lower the wasted heat and the more efficient the kettle becomes. It ain’t rocket science.

If they had suggested a higher powered kettle with better insulation then they would be on to something.

Since it’s difficult to get a proper cuppa on the Continent, clearly not only do the Eurocrats fail to appreciate the complex beauty of our national drink, nor do they understand the basic physics behind it.

So, nul points, Brussels. Keep your lukewarm Liptons, it’s time we sent in the Tetley Tea Folk to explain why Britain needs a kettling opt-out. Maybe Stanley (not Johnson) might have better luck in negotiations?

Aidan Ruff,

Lemmington Hall,

Alnwick