Here’s a quiz question: how much would you say the supply of non-Russian gas to Europe (including the UK) has gone up since the invasion of Ukraine?

It’s a pretty important question. After all, in the years before the invasion, Russian gas (coming in mostly through pipelines but, to a lesser extent, also on liquefied natural gas [LNG] tankers) accounted for more than a third of our gas.

If Europe was going to stop relying on Russian gas, it would need either to source that gas from somewhere else or to learn to live without it. And while there might, a few decades hence, be a way of surviving without gas while also nursing important heavy industries, right now the technology isn’t there.

For decades, Europe – especially Germany, but also, to a lesser extent Italy and other parts of Eastern Europe – built their economic models on building advanced machinery, with their plants fuelled by cheap Russian gas.

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All of which is why that question matters. And so too does the answer. The conventional wisdom is that Europe has shored up its supplies of gas from elsewhere. There’s more methane coming in from Azerbaijan, for one thing. And more too in the form of LNG from Qatar and (especially) the US.

But now let’s ponder the actual data. And it shows you something else: in 2024 as a whole, the amount of gas Europe had from non-Russian sources was up by a mere 0.5% compared with the 2017-21 average.

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This isn’t to say that there wasn’t more gas coming in, primarily from LNG tankers, most (but not all) of them from the US. But that extra LNG was only enough to compensate for a sharp fall in gas produced domestically, for instance by the UK and the Netherlands. The upshot was that to all extents and purposes, the non-Russian part of the European gas mix was basically flat.

That’s a serious problem, given the amount of gas coming in from Russia has fallen by 37% over the same period. Essentially, Europe’s total gas consumption has fallen by an unprecedented amount without being supplemented from elsewhere.

Now, to some extent, some of that lost energy has been supplemented by extra power from renewable sources. The UK, for instance, saw the biggest amount of its power ever coming from wind and other green sources last year. However, green electricity only goes so far. It cannot heat houses with gas boilers; it cannot provide the intense heat needed for many industrial processes. And look at the numbers in Europe and you can see the consequences.

With the continent having effectively to ration gas, the industrial heart has borne the brunt. Look at chemicals production in the UK and it’s down by more than a third in recent years. Look at energy-intensive industrial output in Germany and it’s down by 20% since the invasion of Ukraine. The continent is deindustrialising, and the shortage of gas is at least part of the explanation.

And that shortage is about to become even more acute in the coming months. Because the flow of gas coming from Russia is going to fall yet further. There are, broadly speaking, four routes for Russian gas into Europe. The Yamal pipelines are old Soviet pipes running through Belarus; the Nord Stream pipes run (or rather ran) under the Baltic. There are pipes going through Ukraine towards Slovakia and Austria and then there’s the newest pipes, running through the Black Sea to Turkey.

As of late last year, only two of these routes were still operational: Yamal had been shuttered following sanctions by both sides in 2022; Nord Stream was damaged by an attack later in 2022. And now, following a failure to renew the terms of a transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukraine route has just shut too. The amounts of gas we’re talking about aren’t enormous: around 4% of total European supply, as of 2024. But even so, it’s a further blow and will mean more rationing in the coming months. European deindustrialisation will probably continue or accelerate.

According to Jack Sharples, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies: “In the big picture, the loss of 15 billion cubic metres in 2025 for Europe as a whole equates to 4% of supply in 2024. So, enough to push the market a little tighter in the context of a global LNG market that remains tight, but nothing like the impact of losing Russian pipeline gas supply in 2022.”

Still, this isn’t the only challenge facing the market right now. This time last year, the continent had a near-unprecedented amount of gas stored away. But the amount of gas in storage – a key buffer – has dropped rapidly in recent months, partly because it’s been a little colder than in the previous year, partly because gas has had to step in to provide power when the wind dropped and renewables output disappointed.

The result is the continent starts the year with gas storage at a much lower level than policymakers would like – only 71% full. Admittedly this is higher than the nerve-wrackingly low level of early 2022 (54%). And it’s implausible that Europe will actually exhaust its supplies. But it makes it more likely that the continent will have to pay high prices in the summer to replenish its supplies.

Put it all together and you can understand why wholesale gas prices are climbing higher. The UK may not receive any gas directly from Russia, but it’s plugged into this market, so any shortages on the other side of the channel directly affect the prices we pay here too. And those prices are now up to the highest level since the spring of 2023. This is, it’s worth saying, way lower than the highs of 2022. But it’s enough to suggest bills might be heading up soon.

England’s cricket bosses have rejected calls for the team to boycott an upcoming match against Afghanistan over the ruling Taliban regime’s assault on women’s rights.

Urged to pull out of next month’s Champions Trophy match in Lahore by more than 160 politicians, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday it would prefer to take unified rather than unilateral action.

MPs and peers from across parliament, including Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn, and Lord Kinnock, have signed a strongly-worded letter written by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi that condemns the “insidious dystopia” unfolding in Afghanistan.

Women have been effectively prevented from taking part in organised sport since the Islamic extremist group returned to power in 2021, leaving the Afghanistan Cricket Board out of step with International Cricket Council rules.

The ECB should refuse the 50-over group game on 26 February, the letter said, “to send a clear signal that such grotesque abuses will not be tolerated.

“We must stand against sex apartheid and we implore the ECB to deliver a firm message of solidarity and hope to Afghan women and girls that their suffering has not been overlooked.”

But the ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, said that the body favoured a uniform approach from all member nations rather than acting alone.

Mr Gould said the ECB “strongly condemns” the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls and has not arranged any matches against Afghanistan.

It promised to “actively advocate” for further international action by the International Cricket Council (ICC), as a “coordinated, ICC-wide approach would be significantly more impactful” than acting alone.

Mr Gould said the ECB “understand the concerns raised by those who believe that a boycott of men’s cricket could inadvertently support the Taliban’s efforts to suppress freedoms and isolate Afghan society”.

“It’s crucial to recognise the importance of cricket as a source of hope and positivity for many Afghans, including those displaced from the country.

“The ECB is committed to finding a solution that upholds the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan while also considering the broader impact on the Afghan people.”

“We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the UK government, other stakeholders, the ICC, and other international cricket boards to explore all possible avenues for meaningful change,” he said.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned by the appalling erosion of women and girls rights in Afghanistan.

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“While participation in the ICC Champions Trophy is a matter for the International Cricket Council and England and Wales Cricket Board, we are in contact with the ECB on the wider issue of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team.

“We welcome the fact that the ECB are making representations to the ICC on this wider issue and what support can be given.”

In 2003, Nasser Hussain’s England side forfeited a World Cup game against Zimbabwe in protest at Robert Mugabe’s regime, with politicians advocating for the move without stepping in to make the decision on the squad’s behalf.

A prison officer who was filmed having sex with an inmate has been sentenced to 15 months in jail.

Linda De Sousa Abreu, 31, was on duty at HMP Wandsworth in London when she entered the prisoner’s cell and had sex with him on 25 June.

The encounter was filmed by another inmate and lasted for almost five minutes.

She was identified by HMP Wandsworth staff and arrested by the Metropolitan Police at Heathrow Airport on 28 June, after the footage went viral on social media the day prior.

The mother-of-one was planning to fly to Madrid and telephoned the prison as she fled to the airport to say that she was not returning to work.

De Sousa Abreu then pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office on 29 July last year.

During sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, Judge Martin Edmunds KC said the former officer “knew that conduct was forbidden, and forbidden for good reason”, and that the offence and harm caused “was immensely serious”.

He added: “You engaged in sexual activity with a prisoner. That compromised your role as an officer, and was misconduct which undermines discipline within the prison, and puts fellow officers at increased risk.”

The court heard De Sousa Abreu had a history of poor mental health and trauma, and had consented to sexual activity with the prisoner on the day of the incident.

It also heard she agreed to a second prisoner – who later sent the video to a friend, who posted the video online – being present and filming the activity while appearing to smoke cannabis.

The judge said she “participated with evident enthusiasm”, but did not consent to the recording being published online.

De Sousa Abreu also requested the judge consider two other offences – one being sexual activity with the prisoner earlier that day, and the other being a separate sexual encounter with the prisoner within at least three to four days of the main offence.

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Judge Edmunds then said “whether you intended it or not, the fact is that the video went viral, and caused great harm” to female officers at HMP Wandsworth.

He noted some officers said that after the recording, they were “subject to abuse and harassment from prisoners” as well as being subjected to sexual approaches and being seen as “fair game”.

Other officers claimed their children were teased at school over what their mothers may do at work after the video was released.

“It is inevitable that the damage for which you were responsible at Wandsworth has spread, to some degree, through the prison estate,” the judge added.

De Sousa Abreu was sentenced to 15 months in prison and told she would serve half her time in custody and the rest on licence.

She was also entitled to a 95-day reduction after it was revealed that she had been wearing an electronic tag for 190 days.

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A Prison Service spokesperson said after sentencing: “While the overwhelming majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest, we’re catching more of the small minority who break the rules by bolstering our Counter Corruption Unit and strengthening our vetting processes.

“As today’s sentencing demonstrates, where officers do fall below our high standards we won’t hesitate to take robust action.”

Tetteh Turkson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, also said last year that the incident was “a shocking breach of the public’s trust,” and that De Sousa Abreu “was clearly an enthusiastic participant who wrongly thought she would avoid responsibility”.