To think that very few people can manage £4200 energy bills

[Butterflyfluff]

news.sky.com/story/energy-bills-forecast-to-rise-even-higher-than-previously-thought-12668906

This simply isn’t manageable for the majority of people.

Where’s this going to end?

Whilst i rarely agree with you, i usually see some logic to what you post, on this however, i don't.

Vast majority of energy used in the UK is by business and if you were to single out specific high use users, you'd have to look at the waste that is used, not only in energy but also water by the very wealthy who have swimming pools.....

...not that i have anyone in particular in mind.

I agree - there's only so much 'heavy lifting' of the economy that 'lower earners' can do. Many 'middle earners' are going to be technically in fuel poverty this winter.

Just heard on the radio that 'energy company chiefs' have been 'called into Downing Street'.

From twitter:

• Starmer to give a speech on the cost of living early next week.

• Starmer, Reeves and Miliband have tested 'the new policy' with experts for months.

• Labour to make 'several significant interventions' on the economy btwn now and next GE

Who knows it it'll be any good, but it should at least force the government's hand to do something.

Agreed.

I am lucky enough that my trebling energy bill in October is painful, but not terminal. But that money simply gets withdrawn from what is currently discretionary spending.

I would not like to be running a hospitality business later this year.

Thanks to a mixture of sensible decisions and sheer luck, I am facing gas bill up by only 50% compared to last year, and electric bill doubling….. but since I installed solar and battery in December, which reduced electric bill by 2/3, it will end up 1/3 less than last year.

Prior to this rubbish my gas and electric bills were about the same, so my total is going to be up a mere 10% or so. Mind you, when these fixes end, it will be a different matter. And the solar and battery weren’t free, of course.

The trouble is that even if you reduce your usage to one sole unit a quarter, the utility companies will hike up the standing charges. That’s the fear with smart meters: they can “see” what you’re up to and increase rates based on when you boil the kettle etc.

It's true that in other countries part of what they're doing is reducing the cost of other things to compensate for higher cost of living, e.g. making public transport practically free. For me, a free monthly travel card would cover my new energy costs. Obviously that won't work in the UK as so many people drive but the principle of substitution isn't bad.

Like it's apparently impossible to reduce energy costs, it's too complicated to reduce household bills with means testing, so maybe.... the government pays everyone's council tax until energy prices go down? As an offset. Whatever money they currently send to councils, they increase it to cover everyone's council tax bills up to X amount (so excluding mansions etc.)

Whatever Truss's inevitably crap and disintegrating government does, it needs to make up its mind pretty bloody fast whether the assistance it offers is to be universal or targeted.

Truss's ideology means she would favour universal. But she's already decided the country can't afford that.

Her ideology does not include targeted assistance because that rewards blah blah blah wrong things.

So she's bloody paralysed and can only try to pass the buck to the energy companies while pretending she's being strong while 'supporting growth'.

I can't even comprehend it.

The thing is means testing always punishes those in the middle - or at least just above the threshold set. It would mean some people sitting in bikinis in their front rooms basking in the heat whilst others only a few pounds better off would face ruinous bills.

People (indeed on MN) talk about “the rich” - but most of us are plodding along in the middle, sighing in the knowledge that when taxes are raised or, in this case utility prices, we are sitting uncomplaining ducks.

Germany are increasing tax thresholds - easy to do, no extra cost, and it helps everyone.

Germany are increasing tax thresholds - easy to do, no extra cost, and it helps everyone

This would be a good idea, even if it's temporary. It could be done quickly through HMRC.

Agree. Obviously it’s hardest for the poorest but it’s still bloody hard for the rest of us too. I’m fed up of working so hard and rubbing pennies together at the end of the month while being just above the threshold for help (especially when it’s based on one salary rather than household income such as child benefit).

Worth everyone watching out for their suppliers trying this on...

"Ofgem and industry body Energy UK said it was "possible" for suppliers to raise customers' direct debits before the new cap on energy prices kicks in."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62494406

I'm hoping the government realise there's a huge chance they'll get all of about 10 votes next GE if they don't pull their finger out. I think a lot of people in traditional Labour strongholds who have recently swung Tory would easily swing back the other way, and a lot of middle earners who might have always voted Tory would also probably not be best pleased if they were paying £10,000 a year on heating or whatever the most recent ridiculous projection is.

I do realise that the people with the least need help the most. I would also feel quite disappointed if any help went only to with the very lowest incomes as there are huge swathes of people in the middle who are above the cut off for any assistance but would still struggle. I earn £30k which isn't huge by Mumsnet standards, but it's taken me 10 years to get there. My partner can't work due to ill health (but no actual diagnosis due to NHS delays and therefore no disability benefits or help of any kind). I live in the south (not London, thank God!) so it's not cheap here. We will cope but we will have to cut back and have a lot of toast based dinners, I think. Luckily I live in a very warm house, so while it's like living in a sauna at the moment it should be a blessing in winter.

I cut the car a couple of years ago. It sounds like your journey to work is a similar distance to mine, only instead of walking (which would take an hour), I cycle in a quarter of the time.

Saved me a bloody fortune.

I can recall politicians from all parties implying that the British are lazy and won't do menial jobs.

Part of me wonders if this is all a Brexit strategy (joking).

Now one of the complaints of the Vote Leave campaign was that the UK as a relatively well off nation in the EU always contributed more in than they got out as money was sent to relatively poorer countries in Eastern Europe and the Med.

Now by deliberately and completely trashing the UK economy if the UK chose to rejoin the EU in say 20 years, then the UK would be joining as a relatively poorer country and would get back more than it put in.

Just an idea

😂

It’s far from the most outlandish idea I’ve seen!

Unfortunately I think it will take mass defaulting on bills for the government to realise, 'hang on, we have a problem'. Realistically, it's not middle Britain who'll suffer (though they'll feel the pinch) but people who were already struggling to begin with. They'll have no choice but to get into debt. Maybe then the government will return from holiday and take notice.

The sick. Disabled. Unemployed.

When they're deep in debt the government will act...

Actually... If history is believed, the government will just blame the sick, disabled and unemployed for the issues...

Our nuclear power stations don't tend to have cooling towers either. Almost all of them were built by the sea, except for Trawsfynydd which had a reservoir built for it.

We should be thanking our lucky stars that we aren't in the EU as we'd be bailing out Germany, and our energy prices would have been much higher

The German economy is going to lose billions due to their reliance on Russian gas.

We should be thanking our lucky stars that we aren't in the EU as we'd be bailing out Germany, and our energy prices would have been much higher

That’s strange, I thought our bills were way, way higher than those in the EU.