The Cost Of Living Crisis

[Pyro Pete 1,889]

BBC News - Warning energy bills to hit over £4,200 a year in January

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62475171

Are we all screwed?

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

35 minutes ago, Pyro Pete said:

BBC News - Warning energy bills to hit over £4,200 a year in January

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62475171

Are we all screwed?

Yes, certainly for the foreseeable future.

[TheGunnShow 5,930]

Wonder what the profits of utility companies will be?

[horsefly 4,287]

10 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Wonder what the profits of utility companies will be?

They will need it for the bonuses so their staff can afford to pay their utility bills.

Edited August 9, 2022 by horsefly

[Thumbbass 318]

13 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Wonder what the profits of utility companies will be?

This is the issue. The companies we directly pay our bills to are not necessarily the ones making the huge profits, this is happening back in the supply line where they are making all sorts of hay. It's why the price cap doesn't work. It is absolutely criminal and genuinely makes me feel sick that we're essentially, and pardon the pun, but powerless.

There are small public protests building like https://dontpay.uk/ I wish we had the togetherness that the French have in these situations. 

[Pyro Pete 1,889]

1 hour ago, Thumbbass said:

There are small public protests building like https://dontpay.uk/ I wish we had the togetherness that the French have in these situations. 

There is a new nationwide campaign just launched called Enough Is Enough.

https://wesayenough.co.uk/

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Pyro Pete

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

1 hour ago, Thumbbass said:

This is the issue. The companies we directly pay our bills to are not necessarily the ones making the huge profits, this is happening back in the supply line where they are making all sorts of hay. It's why the price cap doesn't work. It is absolutely criminal and genuinely makes me feel sick that we're essentially, and pardon the pun, but powerless.

There are small public protests building like https://dontpay.uk/ I wish we had the togetherness that the French have in these situations. 

Absolutely, although in this situation the French are starting in a much better situation than the UK precisely because Macron applied a wholesale price cap quite early on and which as you say addresses the real underlying problem.

Our retail price cap is mere window-dressing or perhaps shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted would be a better analogy.

[Barbe bleu 812]

Should have taken nuclear more seriously at least 10-15 years ago. Probably should have put much more in renewable, biomass and shale too

That gas, let alone russian gas, was not something to be relied on has surely been obvious for decades.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Barbe bleu

[sonyc 5,489]

The betting odds are strongly in the favour of Liz Truss. Odds on and heavily so. We can assume she will be the new PM. Am I being really thick... but I just don't understand how tax cuts will help many people to pay their energy bills? If your monthly bill goes from say between £100 to £200 then they double - how can even a 10% tax cut help? How does it help people already struggling or using food banks? If you're on benefit how does a tax cut help? Is Truss really time deaf to industry leaders let alone church leaders?

We just hear that "we are Conservatives and we want to lower taxes". Is she living on cloud nine?

More U turns to come I believe because she will come under huge pressure. A poll tax moment for Truss?

 

[Herman 9,712]

We were a serious country once.

 

[Virtual reality 706]

The ridiculous response to covid coupled with the Russian invasion has created the perfect **** storm. This will end in riots I’m afraid 

[Herman 9,712]

9 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

The ridiculous response to covid coupled with the Russian invasion has created the perfect **** storm. This will end in riots I’m afraid 

Yes, those two reasons, and only those, are exactly what have caused our current predicament.

[Virtual reality 706]

2 minutes ago, Herman said:

Yes, those two reasons, and only those, are exactly what have caused our current predicament.

I’m sure you’ll blame brexit but this is a global problem. 

[KiwiScot 1,436]

I like the part where they recently announced the price cap is reviewed every 3 month instead of 6 to allow for prices to react quicker to lower prices. In an industry where the price is always going up regardless. Thanks for that.

[KiwiScot 1,436]

Just now, Virtual reality said:

I’m sure you’ll blame brexit but this is a global problem. 

Global yes. Brexit, War, Covid, Saving the Planet + Several butterflys off Chile beating their wings in ways unfavourable to our chi.

[Herman 9,712]

29 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

I’m sure you’ll blame brexit but this is a global problem. 

It's not that simple but you can't completely overlook it like you did.

Brexit, Covid and Putin's war were the final straws for the UK. Years of under investment, serious lack of long term planning and a decade of austerity were the long term failures that had left us very vulnerable.

[Virtual reality 706]

Just now, Herman said:

It's not that simple but you can't completely overlook it like you did.

Brexit, Covid and Putin's war were the final straws for the UK. Years of under investment, serious lack of long term planning and a decade of austerity were the long term failures that had left us very vulnerable.

I’m sorry but brexit has very little to do with what’s happening now. You can’t shut down half the worlds economy, print trillions globally to pay healthy people to sit at home and not expect a payback. Putins war is the cherry on top of the cake. And for clarity I didn’t care either way how the brexit vote went. It’s set in globally, We think we’ve got it bad,  Sri Lanken inflation is now tipped to hit 70%

 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,510]

27 minutes ago, Herman said:

It's not that simple but you can't completely overlook it like you did.

Brexit, Covid and Putin's war were the final straws for the UK. Years of under investment, serious lack of long term planning and a decade of austerity were the long term failures that had left us very vulnerable.

Brexit's like having your septic tank overflow and things get smelly; Russia and the consequent food and energy crisis is a tsunami flooding the house under the sea after the septic tank overflowed a bit. 

[Virtual reality 706]

9 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

Brexit's like having your septic tank overflow and things get smelly; Russia and the consequent food and energy crisis is a tsunami flooding the house under the sea after the septic tank overflowed a bit. 

The cost of living crisis had started long before the Russian invasion. Inflation was predicted at the beginning of the year to hit around 9% by the end of it. After the covid lockdowns there was a supply chain and Labour shortage that was pushing prices and demand up globally, building materials, the industry I work in had doubled in price. The Russian invasion has turned an awful situation into a potentially catastrophic one 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Virtual reality

[littleyellowbirdie 2,510]

13 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

The cost of living crisis had started long before the Russian invasion. Inflation was predicted at the beginning of the year to hit around 9% by the end of it. After the covid lockdowns there was a supply chain and Labour shortage that was pushing prices and demand up globally, building materials, the industry I work in had doubled in price. The Russian invasion has turned an awful situation into a potentially catastrophic one 

I missed that prediction. Who predicted it? Was that predicted only for the UK, or globally?

Edit: I should have mentioned Covid in the tsunami category. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Virtual reality 706]

18 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I missed that prediction. Who predicted it? Was that predicted only for the UK, or globally?

Edit: I should have mentioned Covid in the tsunami category. 

I honestly can’t remember who was forecasting it but it was certainly long before the Russian invasion. The problem today is that there are so many opinions by so many ‘experts’ that it’s hard to keep track on it all. But I remember reading an article with that prediction early in the year 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Virtual reality

[Herman 9,712]

2 hours ago, Virtual reality said:

The cost of living crisis had started long before the Russian invasion. Inflation was predicted at the beginning of the year to hit around 9% by the end of it. After the covid lockdowns there was a supply chain and Labour shortage that was pushing prices and demand up globally, building materials, the industry I work in had doubled in price. The Russian invasion has turned an awful situation into a potentially catastrophic one 

🤔

[sonyc 5,489]

6 hours ago, sonyc said:

The betting odds are strongly in the favour of Liz Truss. Odds on and heavily so. We can assume she will be the new PM. Am I being really thick... but I just don't understand how tax cuts will help many people to pay their energy bills? If your monthly bill goes from say between £100 to £200 then they double - how can even a 10% tax cut help? How does it help people already struggling or using food banks? If you're on benefit how does a tax cut help? Is Truss really time deaf to industry leaders let alone church leaders?

We just hear that "we are Conservatives and we want to lower taxes". Is she living on cloud nine?

More U turns to come I believe because she will come under huge pressure. A poll tax moment for Truss?

 

Well, The Times cartoonist seems to have formed his opinion...

 

[Herman 9,712]

All the extreme free-marketeers, like Truss, are having their beliefs tested to the limits. Letting the market sort things out with no government or regulated interference never accounts for human greed, gouging and mass profiteering. Spiv capitalism.

[sonyc 5,489]

56 minutes ago, Herman said:

All the extreme free-marketeers, like Truss, are having their beliefs tested to the limits. Letting the market sort things out with no government or regulated interference never accounts for human greed, gouging and mass profiteering. Spiv capitalism.

Quite right. If ever there was a moment to look at all the data, to understand the trends, even to look back in history...then surely this is one of those moments. Such a lot of stories coming to my eyes, people seriously struggling.

I've read so many sources (from industry, church, media ...let alone from politicians, even some from the Conservative party) imploring action and now. Is this another media storm? I don't think so. I remember the era of high unemployment in the late 70s and desperation of many in the 80s. I remember too well having a job in housing, trying to respond to it (the crime, the outrageous thefts, the threats, family systems breaking, the justice system and so on).

Truss today appears to just want to close her ears. Or decry any future government help as "Gordon Brown politics". I'm assuming as a leader in waiting she doesn't want to put off her small group of electors, many of whom can 'manage quite okay thank you very much'.

This doesn't bode well at all. It feels reckless. I would be posting a similar point whichever political party was acting like this (absent, free market) one.

Like a car crash we can foresee, the dangers ahead mapped out, but we are not applying the brakes. That cartoon above is a very serious one indeed - proper satire and actually not funny but biting.

Low productivity, extremely low wages, insecure housing, absolute poverty, ballooning energy costs (for employers alike), simmering industrial unrest, stretched public institutions and infrastructure....we are leaving a lot of this to the free market to decide. It will. As it always has. But where will this approach lead us to this time?

"Meet the new boss...."

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

‘Global problem’

[Mello Yello 2,279]

The Media revel in Misery.....

[Yellow Fever 3,744]

Can't help but feel unless Truss the Unworldly wakes up and smells the roses she'll be defenestrated before she even has mananged to measure up for the curtains. 

These energy price rises are going to throw a lot of even small c frugal conservatives over the edge. Do nothing much for the many and the poll tax riots will look tame. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Yellow Fever

[Nuff Said 5,089]

13 hours ago, Virtual reality said:

I’m sorry but brexit has very little to do with what’s happening now. You can’t shut down half the worlds economy, print trillions globally to pay healthy people to sit at home and not expect a payback. Putins war is the cherry on top of the cake. And for clarity I didn’t care either way how the brexit vote went. It’s set in globally, We think we’ve got it bad,  Sri Lanken inflation is now tipped to hit 70%

 

Is it the lockdowns you object to, or the handouts “to pay healthy people to sit at home”? I’m curious what else government could have done if you support the idea of lockdowns, and if you don’t, whether you are an epidemiologist or similarly qualified?

[Nuff Said 5,089]

16 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Absolutely, although in this situation the French are starting in a much better situation than the UK precisely because Macron applied a wholesale price cap quite early on and which as you say addresses the real underlying problem.

Our retail price cap is mere window-dressing or perhaps shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted would be a better analogy.

The French have also 100% nationalised EDF which, like several European state-owned transport companies, is offsetting the costs to their citizens by making profits in our wonderful deregulated markets.

(I can hear the cries of “communism!” now)