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.

No, it’s not going to collapse. People are going to struggle, measures will be out in place and life will go on. If things get too bad a different party will be put into government to make sweeping changes and life will go on. People are too sensible to break things without having a Plan B.

Where have you got those figures from? We have huge economic inequality in this country so I doubt they are correct.

The positive in all of this is that as a country we’re being forced to become more independent in terms of energy generation and speed up our renewable energy programme. People are being forced to use less energy and do less and consume less which is all much better for the environment. I’m not saying the negative cost issues aren’t scary, but there are hidden long term positives.

This all reminds me of the weeks before covid really hit.

For about 2 months there were a handful of people warning of what was to come. Most, and I suspect you were 1 of them poo pooed things.
Many had to eat there words later.

So yes. I too think there is definite potential for mass panicing.
And you dont have to look further than the NHS is now to see that people are not getting treated as well compared to even a year ago.
People around here are already having to wait many hours and hours for an ambulance. With the result of course of worse health outcomes going forward in lots of cases.
Hardly much imagination needed to predict deaths. Potentially many sadly.

I’m a widowed parent to two. Work full time and earn £40k Pa. I can now only afford the essentials and even then have to budget for them. I’ve had to cancel my pension contributions and the kids monthly savings. I won’t be able to have my heating on this winter. If this is my situation imagine people earning far less.

I do wonder what would happen if we all just cancelled our direct debits to the energy companies en masse as a protest ( or because we genuinely can't pay them). The energy companies profits are through the roof and if the government won't windfall tax them sufficiently where is there to go?
When we are already planning 'warm banks' to start in October in lots of major cities surely they have to look at it and think ' something has gone majorly wrong here'...

How much extra are you personally prepared to spend on energy, for all the green inititiatives?
Another £2000, £4000, £7000 per year. Every year going forward?

When countries start to break down economically, there are several if not many changes in governement until the situation is hopefully resolved.

hen there's China. I barely hear it talked about here but they've got their own unprecidented mortgage crisis

Yes thousands are refusing to pay & fears of social unrest.

Those of you who keep on about France...they have nuclear energy so they are pretty self sufficient.

They are also French & wouldn't tolerate it, we are far more passive.

We go through these cycles, as history shows and they will continue to happen in the future too. Once you recognise that then you can plan for them. Maybe do some research so you too can understand it and be better prepared next time.

No point stressing about something you cannot control

Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase

gin thinks this happens if you raise wages

Which will do nothing except raise the cost of things.
If you raise minimum wage then companies raise their prices to pay for that. People are really no better off.

so thus my question - why isn’t inflation coming down with wages being cut for 10 years in real terms by 25%

inflation isn’t going to raise if people have pay increases, in fact if pay rises then it’ll help see off a longer harder recession

How does one prepare for them? I did predict the recession of 2008 and I planned for that. But I didn't foresee a pandemic. Neither did the WHO though.

Well, actually EDF are in a very bad financial situation. France is struggling with their nuclear reactors, EDF has huge debts and might have to be nationalised to survive.

The situation in France is anything but rosy.

It’s always been the government’s plan to become significantly less reliant on Russian gas and oil. The problem we’re experiencing at the moment is how quickly it’s happened. Everything is adjusting. We’ve reached a massive crisis point but that doesn’t mean prices will keep going up and up forever. People will just stop paying. My comment was really that there is a positive hidden within the awful situation. It’s not the end of the world as the OP suggests.

I feel like it OP don’t think it will be quite as bad but it will be bad, why should we have to do it, get through it at all as people have said.

As @ivykaty44 said it’s not just about prices not being obscene we would we somewhat cushioned if we were all payed a proper wage workers in ALL sectors bar the odd role here and there have seen near stagnant wage growth since the early 00’s whilst shareholders and company execs and the London elite have grown wealthy beyond comprehension off the back of this and our governments loose tax laws.

And @Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase they should be visibly sorting this out, but they definitely don’t get paid enough. I mean they get paid what they’re worth, but the key government roles do not pay enough to attract the brightest and the best so we’re left with this shower of 💩.

People saying we have made it through before but I think the difference this time is the inequality & demographics. We never really recovered from 08 & all that QE devalued wages & inflated assets causing huge inequality. How on earth is the NHS & social care going to cope with the much higher numbers of older people? There are now more over 65s than under 15 yrs. Those kids are the future tax payers & there isn't enough. The NHS will not be free at the point of care in 5 yrs time.

You might, but not everyone will, so try to act like a human and show compassion. Suicides will rise, ill health will rise, mental health impacts will rise, malnutrition will rise, people will die earlier, children will struggle educationally.

The total waster that is our PM said sometimes 'we' have hard times - not him though, the absolute cunt.

“hopefully some civil unrest”

Be careful what you wish for. And where you wish it!

It will reach a point where a lot of people won’t have any other option…

I think the country is in for a bumpy ride but I would question the motives of people online repeatedly calling for civil unrest or violence. This is exactly what Putin’s regime wants, to destabilise Europe using energy as the bargaining chip so that we stop supporting Ukraine. I don’t know who internet randoms are, and whether anyone is paying them to push for civil unrest for nefarious ends. Always consider who would benefit…

I also think we need a shift to energy sufficiency and renewable energy, which is much cheaper and environmentally sustainable (i.e. not making 40c or 50c summer temps more common). For the long term survival of the country, ability to grow food etc. And clearly the government needs to do more to support the most vulnerable!

One thought I keep coming back to during this whole situation - isn’t it our reliance on fossil fuels that is part of the problem?

The Energy crisis and climate change are two emergencies that are a result of a lack if infrastructure/means to generate renewable or green energy. Why is this being discussed so little? We all know we needed to stop using fossil fuels yesterday so why not use the renewable natural resources we have as an island nation (wind, water) and channel all our efforts in rapidly developing the means to generate this? I know it’s unrealistic that the ability to generate enough renewable energy to power a nation is within our grasp.. but I feel like it’s not being developed as much as it could/should be? This is an emergency but is being treated as business as usual.

Regarding summer recess - it’s a bit bad timing but ultimately they’re entitled to a holiday/break, like everyone else should be.

EDF has been nationalised already, so UK government is paying direct to the French government, who are limiting rises to 4% for French bill payers whilst the UK government leaves us to it. French families are on average £8,800 better off than UK families (adjusted) when all is taken into account.

(Question is rhetoric, I know the answer is money - just look at the oil industry’s recent profits!)

You might want to check the recent news reports on EDF.

For those of you who are wondering why people aren’t more worried/ outraged/ panicked, we have been in crisis mode now for over 2 years. People can only take so much.

People are tired.