To think Britain is heading towards economical and social collapse

[Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase]

It feels like we are living in strange times, having come out of a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now the cost of living crisis and the added pressure from Brexit.

Ive barely slept tonight, worrying about what might happen with energy prices. I’ve heard the energy price cap is expected to rise to £3,850 in October. A few months ago I’m sure they predicting it would be £2,400 and that was horrifying enough.
Now I’m seeing people on the energy support Facebook group talking about monthly energy costs of £900 per month. It feels like this is escalating out of control very quickly and the Government are allowing us to sleepwalk into a disaster.

I realised tonight that if the price cap does keep increasing at the rate it has then what will happen to all the businesses once people can’t afford their energy bills anymore? They will probably increase their prices to try and cover their costs but that will drive down sales even more as people won’t have as much money to spend anymore. Eventually it will only be the essentials that we can afford so that surely means that all the other businesses won’t be able to afford to keep going?

Then what? Unless our government actually get their heads together about this then the whole country will end up in financial ruin and we will see the breakdown of society. Why so much focus on the leadership contest, surely that must take a back step.

Ive just checked the parliament website and the House of Commons has now gone into summer recess so they won’t meet again until September! I think this is an emergency situation and that they should be called back to focus on this. They get paid enough.

I think it’s outrageous that they can claim for utility bills on their expenses when there are people out there with young children who are worried about being cut off and put onto a prepayment meter.

ValleyOfSomewhere - I can't believe that you haven't checked your fuel bill for 10 years. How big is your house that they estimated £42,000 and you initially wasn't going to query it? Do you live in a castle?

Maybe that’s because everyone in your ‘circle’ is a lot better off financially than the majority of posters on this thread?

£30 a month which barely scratches the surface as you can imagine.

You are right, but that is the view of someone who has a well equipped and working kitchen, time to faff about with ingredients AND DOES NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HOW MUCH THE ENERGY COSTS TO COOK IT.

Cheap nuggets are small and cook more quickly that real chicken pieces. The toddler will definitely eat them (mum can’t afford to risk food being refused, so is less likely to experiment and sticking to dead certs) . They don’t need additional ingredients. Coco pops don’t need cooking at all. Porridge oats need perhaps another 50p a day of heat to cook them and then perhaps sugar on top. You can’t compare the two. It’s possible mum now has to work more hours and needs to feed the toddler faster before and after work.

If you don’t have to think about all those factors, I’m glad for you. But it is a privileged and you need to be aware of that and acknowledge that porridge oats for pennies are only a small part of the story here.

Those are not the only options, and it wouldn't be a matter of handing the keys to the Tories as they would be even more seats short of a majority.

He would attempt to govern as a minority government. There would be a vote in parliament on whether he has the "confidence of the house" and the Lib Dems, SNP etc. would have to decide whether to support it. They would then deal with each issue and bill on a case by case basis. Of course there'd be plenty of discussion and negotiation behind the scenes (as there always is anyway), just nothing that would suggest an ongoing coalition agreement. For example he wouldn't appoint a Lib Dem as deputy leader, or have a multi-party cabinet.

If/when this became unworkable, there would be another election. The circumstances of that would depend very much on the exact numbers involved. If Labour are close to a majority (unlikely) and the Tories still unpopular, they might force an election voluntarily, continue to hold the "Majority Under First Past The Post Or Nothing" line and effectively blackmail the electorate into giving them a majority. If the Lib Dems are strong, and have any integrity or sense, they could use the situation to red-line PR and constitutional reform. But then there's always the chance they'll render all of this redundant by just going into coalition with the Tories again.

And that's before even getting on to what the SNP will do!

The UK has LNG ports. Germany does not. Not so forward thinking, are they?

France has EdF, which has at last check, 13 nukes out of service due to poor maintenance and disputes with staff. EdF is also in massive financial distress.

And as for gas storage, Rough would have shored 9 days of gas. Storage is not getting anyone thru winter, which I understand to last more than a fortnight typically.

What, you mean the people who bought their family houses late 80s/early 90s before the prices went nuts? And have been lucky enough not to need to move since then?
What a stupid comment.

You’re living in Narnia @Fifteentoes. A coalition would be formed in hours. And nobody would be “crucified”.

Liebig do you work in the sector? Even if not it’s good to have the extra info

I do not. I just have no life and obsess over energy and ecological issues.

What an absolutely ignorant thing to say. Try to address what annoyed you.

France's amazing energy foresight, everyone.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/18/starmer-rules-out-even-informal-post-election-deal-with-lib-dems

"I'm ruling out any arrangement".

ticktickticktickboom
Many people are cash and time poor. They do not need people who spend hundreds of pounds a month on their groceries lecturing them on whether they should be feeding their kids porridge or cocoa pops. For many well off people, he poor should be either eating gruel or cooking vats of nutritious vegetable soups. They should stop daring to enjoy watching TV on Netflix or buying their kids sweets. They should walk everywhere as it is good for their health. etc etc.
How about we redistribute some of the wealth in this country by taxing people with huge incomes and preventing people with wealth from hiding it off shore or putting it in their kids names? I am also struck by how those with wealth can insulate their homes, fit solar panels, buy electric vehicles and / or electric bikes, fit air pumps, buy energy efficient appliances, eat nutritious, organic food, go private when the waiting lists are too long, get their dental care privately etc etc.
They then have the bare faced cheek to criticise someone on a very limited income and complain she should be better at cooking and meal planning. Just awful.

Sorry, not 13 nukes, 28 nuclear reactors are offline in France currently due to various reasons (though chief is corrosion and safety concerns).

Germany's basically heading into recession because of the makeup of their economy (heavy industry) and the sudden shortfall in energy. Even if they get storage full (still an if), they manage to scrape by this winter. Maybe. That changes nothing of all the time after that, since Russia isn't going to reverse on this any time soon.

And they still insisted on shutting down viable nuke plants this winter just gone, in what must be collective insanity in the German elite circles who somehow thought solar and wind would be a good fit for a nation with little sun AND wind.

They are now burning old growth forest from the US and brown coal like there's no tomorrow.

I remember the halcyon days of COP26. Those were good times.

@ValleyOfSomewhere I thought DD were for a set amount? How can a company take a different amount without having a direct debit agreement in place? I pay for exactly what I use each month. I don't have a DD as I prefer knowing exactly where I am with usage /payments.

Your comment is ignorant because you have no idea who I am or what I do. What you do need to know is I'm one those people who are NOT going along with the mass hysteria/fear. I'm totally unvaccinated and like the rest of my unvaccinated family, I've never caught covid. We also own thousands of acres (US) and grow our own food. Well armed (legally) and prepared to fight to defend what we have.

I'm not a sheep, are you?

partnif the agreement of a Dd is that the amount taken can change.

*Your comment is ignorant because you have no idea who I am or what I do. What you do need to know is I'm one those people who are NOT going along with the mass hysteria/fear. I'm totally unvaccinated and like the rest of my unvaccinated family, I've never caught covid. We also own thousands of acres (US) and grow our own food. Well armed (legally) and prepared to fight to defend what we have.

I'm not a sheep, are you?*

WTF? What does your experience have to do with life in Britain? It’s crazy

I was on a direct debit because for the previous two years I was working long hours on business and could not be bothered to reconcile the bills. I am a bit OCD about facts so Saturday mornings I used to love checking bills in detail. I trusted the supplier to do the right thing. They took the payment - which in fairness I conceded they could in the direct debit mandate. It all comes back to management, not the staff who presses the button.

I am not going to name the supplier, but you will find it in one word.

I too am frightened at how bad things are going to get, I'm disabled with teens at home but I work 40-50hrs a week. I'm thinking of trying to get a second job to earn more on my days off as I don't know how we are going to afford the energy bills come winter and the increases in food costs won't slow down anytime soon.
It really is concerning for us on the lower income scales

I’m sorry but that’s complete shit I’m getting my kitchen renovated at the moment have the kitchen from Hell with most of my utensils and ingredients still packed into boxes but we aren’t eating chicken nuggets and Coco pops for dinner.

As for toddlers refusing food, its amazing what theyll eat when they arent stuffed full of cocopops.

but even if kitchen works surfaces and utensils were in short supply a can of beans on toast would be better than chicken nuggets. If people don’t know this yet they ought to

The reason I did not check the bills. Our income has been high and our total outgoings low. And when was high energy costs on the national agenda? Never until now, so that is why I am interested and got geared up to tackle the expedition to read the meter.

The size of our house is not relevant to the bill. Or the location of the meter. I saw the £42k estimate and felt instantly it was an error. Even though my house is unusual, it is not that unusual that stories of folk living in similar aged Victorian properties would not have given birth to pure-bred Siamese kittens on opening their energy bills. As no such stories had found their way onto the Daily Mail or Martin Lewis' outlets, I considered my position to be more of an Esther Ranzen type situation. A mistake, like an unusually shaped penile carrot.

Anyway, not a castle but a house more than the average size with some attached integral buildings and a folly on a windy hill.

I am not going to name the supplier, but you will find it in one word.

I think it best not to judge people in very difficult situations @Nothappyatwork - there is a lot of pressure and complex reasons why families choose what they do. Sometimes the food you can access is not varied etc. Plus do you have pans etc., is the hob working.

I'm just grateful I'm not in a tough situation.

@ValleyOfSomewhere ah ok I understand.