The gas prices were spiralling even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As you say, it's just a handy excuse

The war inflamed an already bad decision.

The big issue is that the fat kant who is still meant to be our prime minister has downed tools and fecked off while this crises is raging. It's wilful neglect and the kant should be held accountable for the many, many deaths that will occur this winter due to his lack of action.

The leadership election is not an excuse for his dereliction of duty.

We need a change of government. No more ‘ no one else could do any better’ rubbish. This lot have been in power for 12 years. The country is in the worst state of my lifetime. It is not healthy to allow a single party to control a country for so long. Look at the corruption and depravity it has lead too. We, the people are the ones who are suffering because of it. Lowest pay in decades, highest taxes and inflation since the war.

Boot. Then. Out.

I'm already paying more than that. Will I get a discount in October?

comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 10 minutes ago
The war inflamed an already bad decision.

The big issue is that the fat kant who is still meant to be our prime minister has downed tools and fecked off while this crises is raging. It's wilful neglect and the kant should be held accountable for the many, many deaths that will occur this winter due to his lack of action.

The leadership election is not an excuse for his dereliction of duty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnson has been an absolute disgrace, he wanted to stay the last three months of his tenure, then spends most of it on holiday. He 100 per cent needs to be held to account. He is seriously taking the pee.

comment by (K̇ash) I'm still the Mané - Free... (U1108)
posted 20 seconds ago
I'm already paying more than that. Will I get a discount in October?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I have taken myself of D/D. Never been behind with my bills before, but already £350 behind despite paying £50 a month more than I was paying in April. I simply cannot afford this hike in price, let alone any further ones. The Government are just sitting by doing SFA, but is that really surprising.

If people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around(these banks) will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered

Thomas Jefferson

Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?

comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 12 seconds ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll need to explain your maths on this one mate.

comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 3 minutes ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Because there hasn't been two years of global lockdown and because it has nothing to do with rising energy prices.

What? Do you mean we can't print $20 trillion in 2 years without existing currency being worth less?

comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 1 minute ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------


How on earth has that caused lowest wages and highest corporate profits? Or biggest gap between lowest and highest earners? Or 12 years of public pay freeze /cuts

Just another lie spun by Tory sympathises

I love the way foilers always start their rhetorical question with "when will people admit...." or something to that effect. You arseholes are never off social media asking these questions, so I don't think there is any issue in terms of the questions not being asked

Meanwhile, in Russia...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62652133

comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 23 minutes ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't see how the pandemic has had an affect on energy prices Inflation of other industries, maybe.

comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 12 seconds ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll need to explain your maths on this one mate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Factories around the world closed down for long periods during the pandemic, consequently effecting the profits of oil and gas companies. They made a huge loss during that period. They are now raising prices to offset that.

The government furlough scheme that was distributed during the pandemic also has to be paid for. It's probably why the government are reluctant to subsidise peoples energy bills. I'm no tory and have never voted for them in my life but if anyone thinks there's an easy solution to revive an economy after two years of staggered lockdowns and social distancing than you're living in dreamland.

comment by Citizen Smeg. North London is alwhite (U6574)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 1 minute ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------


How on earth has that caused lowest wages and highest corporate profits? Or biggest gap between lowest and highest earners? Or 12 years of public pay freeze /cuts

Just another lie spun by Tory sympathises
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think that you are both oversimplifying things.

There are lots of causes of the inflation that we are seeing.

Firstly, you are correct. The money supply has gone up massively and the printing of money has been a huge driver.

Then you have the impact lockdowns and restrictions have had on global supply chains. Recently Jerome Powell admitted that these did not bounce back as quickly as they expected. It has also impacted labour shortages which in turn makes production more expensive and then we will see a knock on effect at the till.

Energy is another big driver of inflation obviously.

Also, don't forget the impact that Brexit is having and will continue to have. People really underestimate the impact of that decision.

Also don't forget that this is a global issue. If you think the UK are a shambles, look over at Germany. Europe's largest economy is expecting rolling blackouts this winter.

@Smeg, try not to fall into the trap that this is a Party Politics issue. They are all a shambles. If we had the lib dems, Labour or green party in charge none of our energy infrastructure would have been different... maybe they would have congratulated themselves with some "green(washing)" energy projects like Solar and wind that actually don't work and we'd still be in the same situation.

comment by add912 (U9189)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Citizen Smeg. North London is alwhite (U6574)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by Islington Spur (U18857)
posted 1 minute ago
Why does no one want to admit that two years of global economic lock down, the elephant in the room, has lead us to this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------


How on earth has that caused lowest wages and highest corporate profits? Or biggest gap between lowest and highest earners? Or 12 years of public pay freeze /cuts

Just another lie spun by Tory sympathises
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think that you are both oversimplifying things.

There are lots of causes of the inflation that we are seeing.

Firstly, you are correct. The money supply has gone up massively and the printing of money has been a huge driver.

Then you have the impact lockdowns and restrictions have had on global supply chains. Recently Jerome Powell admitted that these did not bounce back as quickly as they expected. It has also impacted labour shortages which in turn makes production more expensive and then we will see a knock on effect at the till.

Energy is another big driver of inflation obviously.

Also, don't forget the impact that Brexit is having and will continue to have. People really underestimate the impact of that decision.

Also don't forget that this is a global issue. If you think the UK are a shambles, look over at Germany. Europe's largest economy is expecting rolling blackouts this winter.

@Smeg, try not to fall into the trap that this is a Party Politics issue. They are all a shambles. If we had the lib dems, Labour or green party in charge none of our energy infrastructure would have been different... maybe they would have congratulated themselves with some "green(washing)" energy projects like Solar and wind that actually don't work and we'd still be in the same situation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


You talk sense, but please don’t fall into the ‘they’re all the same’ camp. They are not all the same at all, that is why there is such strong emotions around politics. You have no evidence that things would not be better under another party, but I have unlimited evidence about how bad things are under the current government, who have had 12 years of power

Putin obviously has a big impact on this total sh*t show and will continue to exploit it to the full, but, compared with countries like Germany, our reliance on Russian gas is very minimal. I think ( but not sure ) Germany gets something like 35% of it's gas from Russia, but the UK is around 3%.

So, yes, a large part of this, and to be honest every other aspect of our society that doesn't work, is down to the government.

Other obvious areas that are not working and are clearly not being dealt with are:

The NHS
Rail transport generally
The police

The list is endless.

One obvious problem is we don't have a leader, due to some out of date leadership voting system that takes month's to get someone in the hot seat. We all know until a leader is in place, any big policy decisions are simply siting in someone's in tray, going nowhere.

Clearly only the rich can live with such price hikes for something that everyone is totally reliant on, particularly come the winter, and unless dynamic actions are taken by our elected leaders, there will be a very big % of the general public ( most of us included ) going further into debt, to the point where we won't be able to pay for gas and electricity.

Just how does it work when, say 70% of the population is in arrears with their domestic bills. Is it practical for the bailiffs to call on every house to take their TV's away in repayment ?

This country is in a total mess no matter what direction you look.

Meanwhile.............jobless, overweight, tattooed women with long covid, asthma and arthritis struggle to make ends meet in Ipswich

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-62631659

The Tories have completely fecked the country, this is just another issue, albeit it will be felt by more people and more blatantly.

Yet I still expect them to either get another term or run it very close.

this is what happens when a society is built on the never ending illusion of corporate profit and privatisation of literally everything

the consumer ends up being exploited and ripped off

natural, essential resources like gas, leccy, water, and public services like trains, buses...belong to all of us...not private companies to make huge profits for exces and shareholders at our expense

this things should never have been privatised

include the NHS and dentistry as well

I work in the energy industry and have done for nearly 20 years and I can tell you from a wholesale prices perspective, there has been nothing like this ever. What’s going on at the moment is completely unprecedented. It’s not the governments doing (yes you can argue they should be doing much more) - it comes down to the simple economics of supply and demand.

Even before Putin started using gas as a political weapon, demand bounced back post covid far quicker than supplies of LNG for eg could keep up. That sent prices through the roof. What you now have is the Russians shutting off Nord Stream 1 for 3 whole days (which europe depends on) and willing to keep doing that whenever they feel the need to

I’ve heard people get very confused over the UKs reliance on Russian gas. It’s simple - the U.K. doesn’t rely on russia for its gas directly - it relies heavily on flows from Europe (mainly Norway) and LNG shipments. Because of that we are completely exposed to global gas prices - we don’t produce enough of our own and we have to ship it in. So what Putin does completely affects us - when he cuts supply to Germany, it sends the price of gas we import through Europe through the roof. To exacerbate things more - we rely hugely on gas to generate electricity, mainly because renewables are intermittent and can’t keep the lights on.

The French govt are going to stop bankrolling their citizens for the cost of energy because it’s nearly bankrupting the country. Macron is already admitting this. Germany’s response is to limit electricity usage and potentially bring in blackouts. There is no easy answers here.

I have to say that looking back over the last 20 years, it’s clear that both Labour and the Tories have failed badly on energy policy (as have Europe) which has brought us to this point. Not enough investment in energy storage, not reforming the broken wholesale market, ploughing ahead with renewables without considering location or security of supply and a total dependence on Russia and European imports.

This won’t get fixed anytime soon - the prices will drop at some point next year but I’m afraid it’s minimum £2000 a year plus for the next couple of years in my view

We will be taking to the streets to keep warm soon