AIBU TO WONDER HOW IN GOD'S NAME PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE INRESE IN ENERGY PRICES

[Diamondsareforever123]

OK this obviously won't affect those who are lucky enough to have money - but - how are those on low incomes/benefit, poor pensioners, etc. ever going to possibly be able to afford the energy price increases? Also the increases will have a knock-on price increase effect on everything we buy - food, clothes ...... I am concerned.

Knock on effect to hospitality industry again. Who can afford to go out with high energy bills ?

@Akire

Even Boris will get the £200 help It’s laughable. If you are on a key meter how can you even fill up your freezer not knowing if you can feed the meter enough to keep it going till the end of the month. So even more lack choice for poor families

Boris only has to be pay 10% of his salary on bills so is charged 8k a year for all his bills. So he is probably swanning around in shorts and a tshirt with the heating cranked up and we are paying for that as well as our own bills!

They won't. Nor will they be able to afford food as it is rocketing in price. And £500k+ pa Bank of England chief suggests we all batten down and don't get silly asking for pay rises.

I think we will see a huge rise in acute child poverty, like in Victorian times. Unless Labour get in and start spending money we don't have.

I'm baffled by the huge energy price rises. I mean, we already had incredibly expensive utilities because they were sold off to France who then subsidised the French utilities by charging as three times what they paid. How can they keep rising?

I presume the poster was actually doing a Boris bah impression poor thing not buying her third car herself

@FourTeaFallOut

Yeah, cold houses tend to cause damp and mould. They are a disaster for people who are vulnerable.

Yes. And unfortunately insulation isn’t the answer either. This leads to increase in mould, especially in older housing, which presumably most of U.K. housing stock is.

@Akire

Even Boris will get the £200 help It’s laughable. If you are on a key meter how can you even fill up your freezer not knowing if you can feed the meter enough to keep it going till the end of the month. So even more lack choice for poor families

Fight hard to get off a key meter and onto normal meter. The poor pay way more than the rich for electricity. I absolutely refused a key meter when one was almost forced on me and told them why.

@Rabblesthecat

Pah!

It is what it is…….

Just about to buy car number 3

Oh bully for you !

It’s the impact of the energy prices going up will further impact the households themselves but also indirectly food/clothes price increases etc companies will put prices up.

Companies will put prices up to cover wage increases and NI increases. Like a mad circle that only the consumer takes this on so the companies still keep their profits :(

I’m dreading to see what the council tax rise will be come April as again they themselves will need to cover energy rises and NI rises.

I don’t know what the answers will be but I think it will a bumpy road ahead across a lot of income brackets (bar the very rich) but yes it will sadly impact the already poor the most :(

I don’t have one myself but lots my neighbours do, if you can’t pay a bill though they will force you to have one. Maybe as a one off you could negotiate a payment plan but if it’s not cleared in certain time they will cut you off so can’t run up even more debt. “Cut off” as in we not cutting you off but here’s a meter you need pay cash before you get any more power thing.

@Diamondsareforever123

Just to add. We should have a windfall tax without a doubt. This government have lined their and their pal's pockets for years. The money they chucked to their mates during Covid is a joke. Sunak's family are richer than the Queen. I honestly feel I am in an alternate reality, like a bad sci-fi film. I'm not sure people in this country can stand a lot more of this. Something has got to give.

Instead of looking up and seeing the few creaming off the fat of the land, the majority of people are too busy getting angry at people with less than themselves. Madness.

I just switched of the radio as I was listening to how a 22 year old full-time carer for his disabled mum didn't know how he would manage anymore.

Hell I can afford to give my £150 to national energy action - www.nea.org.uk/ and give food to food banks but unless the government takes bigger steps like reducing VAT on fuel it will mean SFA.

It does seem as though they’ll have to do something. It really is going to be Dickensian style poverty at this rate. Of course people voted for it which is deeply frustrating.

@Hamjamwich

Knock on effect to hospitality industry again. Who can afford to go out with high energy bills ?

So all those places who have to close at certain times because they can't get staff are actually "lucky"?

Even though every hospitality place will have to raise its prices to cover the increase in their utility bills regardless of their opening hours.

It does seem as though they’ll have to do something

Pah! This lot don’t care. I think they believe they’ve done ‘something’

Why do people think the government has anything to do with the rise in utilities prices, it's down to global market forces, supply and demand and Russian control of the gas markets. Since many countries turned their back on coal fired power stations in favour of gas fired electrical power then the diversity in the market has gone. Renewable sources are not reliable and are dependent upon weather patterns so reliability in power generation comes from gas. Many countries have taken the same strategy to meet climate targets and this obviously affects the market prices for gas.
It's something that will remain so it's better to look at your energy consumption, how to reduce waste and how to reduce other household costs.
It's hard but unfortunately electricity demand and dependency is only going to increase as we're forced to meet climate targets and remove gas CH.
The government can't be expected to bail out everyone, their pot is only filled from taxation and if money is spent on utility bills it will only come off budgets in health, education etc.

I wonder what would happen if everyone cancelled their direct debits and refused to pay... could they take us all to court?

I grew up in heat or eat and as a child the only thing I wanted was my own house (not council) with a tree and to be warm and free to eat when I wanted. I went to university on the promise that it would lead to better things yet here I am unable to afford a house worrying about how to stay warm and what I'm going to eat. My inner child is bereft.

@Rabblesthecat

No I am actually about to add a new car to the collection

would that be your dinky collection!

We are back to Victorian times, aren’t we? The role of a government is to oversee the welfare of the people. If they can’t even get the basics right and ensure people have the means to be warm, well fed, well educated and healthy (they are doing none of these things at present) then why have we got such a government system in place? We are desperately in need of major change to our entire governmental system. This one just makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.

@Rabblesthecat

Pah!

It is what it is…….

Just about to buy car number 3

Fuck off Rishi

@Iggly

I feel utterly sad for those who will struggle even more because of this.

I feel like a lot of historic decisions are coming home to roost. Privatisation being a big one.

The rot started to set in with Thatcher, we are now truly paying the price. I am truly very sorry for those of you that are afraid & frightened, it sickens me that the government is still not being held to account for the billions of pounds wasted/diverted to cronies yet they find it perfectly acceptable to demonise the poor the vulnerable & the sick (this will be ramped up again over the coming months) They are abhorrent.

Yanbu

I agree @dontcallmelen

I grew up in a single parent household in the 80s and 90s. It was shit.

Privatisation of our utilities, our assets, our resources, our housing was one massive fucking con.

It's not just homes which will struggle to pay energy bills. Small business too, community centres, medical centres, schools, libraries, charities etc will all have to find the extra, probably by making cuts elsewhere.

@saleorbouy do some research.

There have been enough reports since the Conservatives got into power in 2010 on how we, as a country, need to manage our energy.