To wonder how people will financially survive?

[Cupcakeicecream]

To think that many people are struggling already. Food price rises, gas and electric costs. The general cost of living due to inflation from either brexit since the pandemic and Ukraine war. But come on some people were struggling before any of those factors. Financially people will be pushed to breaking christmas will be off the cards general life will stagnate no meals out leisure activities cinema socialising new clothes treat foods. The threat of blackouts and wondering how we will pay bills to keep warm or keep a house running. Never mind buying food the price of it plus the large gaps on shelves. Winter will be miserable. It's becoming impossible to live in this country.

It has worked, for years. Everyone got very cheap energy, and individuals and pension companies got good dividends.

It doesn't/can't work when there is a worldwide squeeze on carbon fuels due to war in one of the biggest carbon fuel producers in the world.

We can, but the party that privatised them doesn't want to admit that the market has failed, because it would mean that their entire ideology is nonsense.

So instead the party of fiscal responsibility will pump billions into stopping any more energy retailers from collapsing, allow them to charge us four times what we paid last last year, and tell us "the market" says it should be five times so to be grateful we're getting a discount.

It was going to cost 31billion to keep the energy companies afloat for the next six months, but prices are rising higher than expected so now it's £37billion. And that's not going to be enough becayse it takes no account of all the businesses who use energy.

I think the government will need to give the energy retailers at least £150billion in corporate welfare handouts over the next 12 months to prop this failed system up. It would be a lot cheaper to renationalise these businesses which cannot survive without gargantuan government subsidies.

The only rational long term plan is to invest in energy generation infrastructure to make this country energy independent, and renationalise energy so we won't be paying bonuses, dividends or profits to anyone via our energy bills.

@BigWoollyJumpers

We can generate our own electricity if we put the infrastructure in place to do so, and reduce reliance on gas a few years earlier than we would have to anyway.

Arguably we have to give up gas now. We can no longer afford it.

Our country would be energy secure and no longer the weak vulnerable victim of global market forces.

If we'd listened to scientists (or ignored non-scientists, either suits me) we'd be swimming in practically free nuclear energy by now and flicking the V to Putin with impunity.

But we are where we are. Still needing to bear in mind that not quite everyone likes the idea of cheap energy. Which would be OK if they weren't in power.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1086781/Energy_Trends_June_2022.pdf

If anyone is bored on a Bank Holiday Saturday, a bit of reading.

What would be the point of running our essential utilities for the benefit of our country, our economy, and our people @SerendipityJane if shareholders (often in other countries) weren't making huge profits?

That is how some countries run their nationalised railways after all. Other country's governments invest in our profit making expensive rail companies, and every time a British person buys a train ticket it helps pay for cheap nationalised rail travel for their own people.

No idea why MN needs to have a look at a link to the Change.org petition but at least I tried. 🤷‍♀️

Hi @Blossomtoes , sorry we've had to pull the petition link as we only allow Petitions to go on our petitions board. Please feel free to repost there.

Thanks. Trouble is nobody will see it there.

I really don't give two shits who doesn't care, but when a six million signature petition can disappear without trace (a proper one on the governments own website, not a TV Quick poll for favourite soap) then why are people persisting with this waste of resources ?

Incidentally, want to save energy, drive slower and stop using lifts. Which judging from my day out today isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Sorry I'm late to reply to this.
I don't know actually, we will be ok financially but it's definitely got me thinking of how much energy I'm using or wasting and we will still try and cut down massively. I think when you are forced to (because you can't actually afford to) you feel like you have no choice and that can make you feel resentful and like you don't want to do it. If you have a choice you can sometimes feel more happy to comply. A bit like with covid I really didn't like being told I had to wear a mask but when it was a free choice I generally chose one happily. It's scary to have your choice or control taken away.

I really don't give two shits who doesn't care, but when a six million signature petition can disappear without trace (a proper one on the governments own website, not a TV Quick poll for favourite soap) then why are people persisting with this waste of resources ?

? 🤔

Why is everyone talking about this winter ?
This will be life going forward 😕

No it won’t.

Something will happen, or change or give. Life never stays still.

Unfortunately I think we’re in for a pretty miserable few years.

Hopefully it won’t be.

maybe the war in Ukraine will finish one way or another.
maybe the energy companies will be renationalised
maybe wind farms, tidal energy, fracking, nuclear power will be invested in and provide enough (I know this will take some time)
maybe the govt will decide to subsidise everyones bills enough even if they don’t renationalise.

im trying to think positive.

How is the ukraine war going these days, things went a bit quiet and their president had a hello photo shoot I believe. Not heard much since

The wholesale cost of gas is set by markets and even if nationalised the state would pay at that rate. I guess if the state still owned the rights to the North Sea reserves we could pump it at extraction cost but not sure I’d trust the government to be drilling, pumping etc. wonder if we’ll see a tidal barrier in the Bristol Channel in the next 20 years or so.

Not if we generated our own electricity, who's going to charge us for our own electricity?!

It's time we got off gas because we can't afford it.

Burning gas we can't afford to to make electricity we could create more cheaply with renewables is insane.

Gensola
Wow - thank you for you fantastic, incisive insight to the geopolitical situation. Really - wow! You have provided such erudite insite into the debate. We are lucky to have such intellectual heavy weights adding to the debate

I grew up like this too-when I went to uni i moved my bed so that my feet could touch the radiator-I couldn't believe that other people had always had central heating!!!!! I still love it, but haven't had it in my bedroom for 3 years. I'm getting plug in throws for my children.Their heating will stay on.I work like a dog, and whilst I believe we'll be OK becaus e we've never had much money, and I'll find ways to eke things out, it's not ok that people should be facing 200% + price hikes for the very basics.I don't want families and the very old and disabled to cry at night because they have no hope for the future. And it's absolutely untrue that people have lost a sense of proportion: it's precisely their respective sense of proportion that's driving their fear-people will die.In significant numbers.

Anyone with a fixed rate mortgage due up in the next 12 months will be in for a shock. Mine is going from £465 per month to £945. If I remortgage, the best deal I will get is still £750. That together with the rise in energy bills and general inflation will push my outgoings up by around £600 per month. Nightmare.

I’m petrified, my heating bill is forecast at £565 a month in October. My mortgage has gone up and up. Food it through the roof. I have literally nothing left. I will almost certainly lose my home when things move again. It’s crazy, when will it end…… I earn a decent wage not a high earner by any means as does my partner but god this is making my world crumble