Are we taking bets yet on when mass civil unrest will begin re. Cost of living?

[UsernameInTheTown]

Having frozen my backside off these past two days as I'm terrified to have the heating on longer than an hour a day, I'm thinking that this will be utterly intolerable come next Winter. Will there be mass civil unrest and the guillotine rolled out while the affluent are targeted by the desperate and those with nothing left to loose?

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

We need to be more like the French.

Having grown up on blackadder i never thought I'd say this, but I agree.

4%, that's how much their energy bills are going up.

So how come the French government put a price cap on their utility companies if 4%?

No idea but France has a very different system. Under our market the companies would go bust, as many have.

Now (being as energy is a collective good with high barriers to entry) I'm not convinced it should be a private market but if we wanted that to change we could have voted for Corbyn.

Nope. The British have a sort of grim and masochistic pride in their 'Blitz spirit' so will just grumble quietly about the weather and how cold it is whilst sitting in their living rooms huddled around a single candle. The idea of mass civil unrest is so....uncivilized.

@Nothappyatwork

My daughter is at university and obviously they are protesting almost on a weekly basis it’s a bit of a hobby for them. However given that she’s had two black eyes of security guards and got shoved into a wall by a police officer I’m becoming more and more opposed to her being involved unfortunately, surely there must be a better way surely anonymous can just shut down aeons website or something.

Your daughter is taking responsibility rather than sitting on her arse and expecting a bunch of internet strangers to hack energy company websites! Civil unrest is risky and scary but history proves that it creates social change.

@PenStation Potentially but I’ll be honest with you I’d rather it wasn’t one of mine that threw themselves in front of the kings horse metaphorically or otherwise

@Libertaire

This is Britain. We don’t do ‘mass civil unrest’. We leave that sort of thing to the French, who are actually prepared to stand up to their rulers, rather than just complaining about them. We just moan about how badly the country is run, then go out and re-elect the Tories.

Exactly this. Moan moan moan and do f... all about it.

@ivykaty44

The government isn't responsible for those rises

So how come the French government put a price cap on their utility companies if 4%? Whilst our government didnt

The French government own them so they will pay through taxes. They also rely a lot on nuclear power so not so exposed to the cost of oil

People need to start rioting in the streets, or at the very least a general strike. This cannot carry on.

@Whelmed

I don't think civil unrest will happen but I wonder if there will be another type of protest. Maybe refusing to pay certain bills or something along those lines.

I've wondered this. If enough people just refuse to pay, what do they do? I've it's a minority it won't make a difference, but the majority? Half? It'd be interesting to know where the tipping point would be. How many have to refuse before it's cheaper to drop prices than chase the debt...

We should think about things in the long term, if you have no money you have to cut costs as does the government.

That's not how state economics work. The US has an obscene debt to GDP ration but grows faster than us, as do other countries.

That's not to say we shouldn't bring it down, but not now. The focus needs to be on growth, not cost cutting.

The government isn't responsible for those rises

Yes they are, and even if they weren’t, it’s up to them to support the people who elected them.

And as for those moaning how the government shelled out during the pandemic, they don’t have to pay for energy rises, they could just tax the greedy oil companies.

But they aren’t. And as a side effect, there will be no money in the economy, as there is no spending money. So the country will enter a severe recession. Again.

The jubilee weekend would be the perfect opportunity for a huge demo with civil disobedience.

There should be peaceful demonstrations similar to the poll tax demonstrations when Thatcher was prime minister. I would definitely be up for it.

@ivykaty44

The government isn't responsible for those rises

So how come the French government put a price cap on their utility companies if 4%? Whilst our government didnt

EDF, owned by the French state, are bearing the brunt of that policy, and to be fair, the French aren't importing fuel for the power stations because they've got so many nuclear power plants.

I find it bizarre that people would consider rioting over energy costs after the last 3 years. The government isn't responsible for those rises- they are caused by brexit, covid and the war

Brexit was caused by the Conservative Government trying to stop a big wussy infighting strop that got infiltrated by the Russian government, Covid strategy will be judged when it's finally over (not yet ) and the war is just over a month long and it really pisses me off when people try to use it as a 'get out of jail free card' given the absolute horror and bloodshed endured by the people of Ukraine.

Those who think the government has control over wholesale oil and gas prices have a rather inflated view of the UK part in the global oil and gas production and market place.

It’s scary for parents to see their offspring putting themselves on the line but sometimes it’s the right thing to do. Some of the young climate activist feel at least that they are doing something. They feel they have no future and nothing to look forward to from business as usual.

But what do people actually want? Votes for women had an end game. Poll tax riots wanted end of poll tax.

What would we actually want the government to do? Tax the rich oil companies more? Will that work or will they tell us to poke it. I guess they know we need them more than they need us.

@ivykaty44

The government isn't responsible for those rises

So how come the French government put a price cap on their utility companies if 4%? Whilst our government didnt

It has signifivant amount of state owned nuclear power plants and it has forced EDF to sell cheap electricity.

And Macron facing re-election this year might have something to do with it. He will not want the gilets jaunts out on the street until after the election.

And as for those moaning how the government shelled out during the pandemic, they don’t have to pay for energy rises, they could just tax the greedy oil companies.

I'm not complaining about what was spent, just the waste.

I'd favour a windfall tax on the extra profits but it wouldn't make a huge difference.
Energy companies are not greedy any more than scorpions are cruel- it's just their nature.

The fact that we have this type of market for energy is our democratic choice and can't be changed quickly (without radical political change and huge economic consequences).

Those who think the government has control over wholesale oil and gas prices have a rather inflated view of the UK part in the global oil and gas production and market place

Alternatively, they could tax the oil companies and prevent these distressing rises. It’s like living in Dickens.

The French government own them so they will pay through taxes.

And there is the difference, if you’re on minimum wage you’d pay only a small amount, but earning £100k and you’d pay more

But the gas and electric will be the same price in U.K. regardless of how much you earn

People really will riot across the globe if food shortages get worse.

Alternatively, they could tax the oil companies and prevent these distressing rises. It’s like living in Dickens.

No, this government has rejected a one off tax this week… then the oil companies make a donation

Yes a fat windfall tax on fossil fuel industries would help.