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.

Urgh don't know what happened there. Was trying to say severe, almost fatal mental illness. Due to a total lack of support for me snd my dcs, the impact of this has been utterly devastating for my family. I am not alone in this. Many families have similar stories. Coping with that alone is more than enough. But when you can't afford to heat your home and your ds can't move to keep warm, it's horrendous.

Lol at all the "I'm alright Jack, and so are my friends"/ "I saw a poor person buy convenience food so it's their own fault" posts.

I would wager that I'm the least ignorant person about deprivation on this thread.

😁😁

Big laughs! I doubt it.

I've never met anyone struggling to feed, clothe or keep their kids warm who would scream from the rooftops their complete understanding of depravity and struggle.

Can I also ask if you expect a packet of 1kg chicken legs/thighs to receive the same response if your house has no seasoning, condiments or cooker? I know many families who buy ready made processed food because

• they have literally a tiny fraction of time outwith working hours or sleeping hours to feed their kids and cooking a meal in 15mins is of PARAMOUNT importance if the kids are to get enough sleep


• they have nothing other than a grill/hob and a limited £ spend on the meter everyday


• they have 0 'cupboard staples' that allow people to cook nice meals and cannot afford to buy them as a once off to have them ongoing (spices, salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, condiments or other seasoning)


• they don't know how to cook (were never taught) and have no TIME to learn now without it impacting their earning

I know that a number of people I know are feeding their kids fish fingers/chicken nuggets and rice, and I promise you, most of them are NOT lazy, they are working 16 hours a day sometimes to clothe and house their kids.

As someone with experience and a bit of know how in the kitchen I empathise with your opinions (as I also eat well and cook well on a budget), but they are misguided - and products of our own (possibly limited) privilege of knowhow, ability, means and time.

Check yourself, it's ok to recognise you have been hasty to judge, digging your heels in and sticking to your guns makes you a dick!

But can I just also emphasise the big big big laugh that your comment about being the 'least ignorant person about deprivation' gave me. Genuinely, huge huge humour at nearly 2am on a shit night, so thank you!

You haven't even watched the clip @TournamentIgloo have you?

She has an oven, she knows how to cook, she said she cooked everything from fresh until the prices went up a few weeks ago.

You have no idea about my life, what I do for a living, the people I work with everyday. Laugh it up.

And I didn't 'see a poor person buying convenience food', I saw a news item with a 24 year old woman saying how awful it was that she could no longer cook fresh food like she could a few weeks ago as it was too expensive as she put 220g of chicken nuggets for £2.40 in her trolley when there was 1kg of fresh British chicken for £2.10 in the same shop.

No, I didn't watch the clip because you used language that quite clearly made generalised statements over and over again rather than specifically responding to the clip and the clip only - so I didn't see the point since you also weren't sticking to the subject of the clip only. If you wanted to talk exclusively about the content of the media you are referencing, you should have made that clear.

(Not to mention the thread isn't about that clip anyway).

I see you ignored my entire post though and have continued to talk about the clip, despite your previous posts containing plenty of statements made against a whole group of people. I notice you specifically ignoring my challenge on how utterly laughable it is you calling yourself the 'least ignorant person on this thread about deprivation', when you have people commenting who might lose their homes this year, carers of disabled kids, disabled folk themselves etc who stand to lose the very roof over their heads if not their ability to buy food and heating.

I notice you continue to reference the price of your chicken legs despite my asking if you still think cooking them in a grill completely unseasoned is going to be as appealing to kids or general folk than processed alternatives.

Basically I notice a lot of willful ignorance on your part and a huge amount of pre-conceived notions on your part about what poor people 'should' look like and how they 'should' live. Please tell me you are at least arguing from a place of familiarity, and that you ALSO stand to be hungry and freezing this winter? Because I have to be honest, if you aren't in that position, your opinion means very little!

And I didn't 'see a poor person buying convenience food',

I didn't accuse you of this, but ok!

I didn't actually reference ANY of your posts about the clip. I talked about your broad and sweeping statements pretty exclusively.

@ticktickticktickBOOM if she'd had a kilo of chicken legs, you'd be saying she should have bought 3 kilos of lentils instead.🙄

This

I think this comment is a true reflection of what’s going on.

On the surface, people are quick to condemn poor people ‘it’s your fault you’re lazy and unorganised’ - a very Tory sentiment ‘live within your means’.

All the while it doesn’t get to the bottom of why people are in this sad situation where the highlight of their kids day is a bowl of brand own cocopops.

It seems the poster misinterpreted a post of a couple of lines

There is no reason people can’t identify how various factors affect their own area.

Wiggly not sure but countries who have supply issues, not just price, will be hit harder

Poland still uses a lot of coal and cost of living more generally is lower.

You’re talking about a different time period. If you look at the link it covers 1997 to 2010. In 2010 the NHS was in the best shape it’s ever been. I was working in it then.

@Blossomtoes I was working in public education during that time period too - up to 2015. The difference between the Labour and Tory government rule is stark. Couple of examples - Labour brought in the upper pay scale for teachers, to keep talented and experienced teachers in the classroom. They bought in specialist schools to attract more funding. I saw the widespread implementation of new technology, such as interactive whiteboards in classrooms, across the country. Since 2010 budgets have been slashed continuously so instead of implementing new tech in classrooms, we've been making TAs redundant. Schools have to cut essentials from their budget. There's a recruitment and retention crisis for qualified teachers. If parents knew the full extent of the mess education is in, they'd be up in arms.

What is this talk about people not being able to cook or budget? These energy price rises are so sudden and steep that they will put households who were managing perfectly well into difficulties. It’s a distraction and deflects blame onto individuals and away from the tories, who should have invested in upgrading the UK’s energy infrastructure and renewable tech when they had the opportunity instead of diverting the subsidies to their mates in the oil and gas industry.

As I said, people in your area who you see out and about may be doing fine - but there are people who you don't see, people in the wider local area, national and international scale.

We are all connected. The USA is heading for recession. And if the world's largest economy hits trouble, that's trouble for us as well.

I worked in education too under Labour.And under the Tories. It was like chalk and cheese

We live In area an where people talk to each other a lot, there’s people who have been here for a long time. It’s just how it is. There are retired single people who garden in front of their houses and many check on them with a chat. They don’t need to ‘go out’ to be heard at all.

Of course I don’t know the whole of the nation, but that wasn’t something I posted. So I’m not sure why it has become the issue.

Yes everyone is connected, it doesn’t mean factors are identical. If you listen to people speak on it there are trends emerging where people in North are harder hit than South, I listed reasons why in pp

It’s not something to get annoyed about - perhaps it will help direct more resources where it’s needed. Far better to understand the different factors.

Yes there are people struggling by saying what it’s like here doesn’t undermine that. If you look at mn there’s loads of threads where people talk about money and spending - the holiday one is a good example atm

lots of people just don’t know how to make “healthy food” taste bloody delicious. Plain chicken is fucking dire and tasteless - I knew someone who used to BOIL chicken breasts and eat them like that. 🤮

id rather chew on a fried bog roll tube.

to make chicken taste of something, you need fats, spices, condiments and know-how.

and no, I’m not dripping in privilege- just another low-paid, ft-working single mum with the luck and know-how to have cupboards full of interesting flavours and the know-how and equipment to eg boil down a carcass to make the fundamental base of a soup/casserole.

and, as another rural living Scot - “free trains” would have absolutely zero impact on my life. We don’t even have a train line in the entire county. 😂

Yes I think you are right but to be fair would Tony B and co have been any better. He was always on the make for his own family

It’s like they got rid of home economics at school isn’t it?
i was probably the last year of it being taught properly, my younger colleagues didn’t get taught. the amount who weren’t allowed to cook at home is huge. This means they left home completely unable to cook.

yes it’s a skill that should be taught at home, but that would mean you had a capable involved parent at home (as well as the ingredients and electric cost). Those colleagues I mention above have kids now, so the cycle continues. They can’t teach their kids as they weren’t taught themselves.

I think To y B would have made a better effort than this lot. As indeed anyone would. Was he always on the make for his own family?

l remeber the Blair years as richer and healthier.

He really was and Cherie was particularly grabby

That does sound awful but it doesn’t that much to make chicken nice, roasting it is pretty easy

It’s great you di have knowledge though you’re right not everyone does

I think it’s just ease and mental space and learning from parents - so if all you know is fast processed stuff you haven’t learnt from anyone