Cost of living crisis.

[FoxesDeb]

23 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

A really good post there.

 

Another aspect I wanted to highlight is our criminal system, we do treat people with convictions almost as another species. So once you get into that, it's hard to get out. 

 

 

Our prison system is set up to punish, not to re-educate or re-introduce you to 'normal' life. Many other countries, Norway for one, train you in a skill and help you find a career and job following conviction (admittedly for those on less serious/minor offences) 

I'm not doubting you at all, but this really surprises me, I thought the UK was pretty good at reforming prisoners. 

 

I always thought the US was the place where punishment was favoured over reform. 

[Legend_in_blue]

2 hours ago, Innovindil said:

Magnum and Marmite-maker Unilever has reported profits rose by a fifth over six months, based almost entirely on raising its prices.

The consumer goods giant said that across the business, pre-tax profit rose 21% to €5.2bn (£4.4bn) but the number of goods that it sold fell.

 

Sales down, profit up 21% 

Will be interesting to see how profits are on cereal brands such as Kelloggs and Nestle.  Fleecing anyone daft enough to pay £5 for a box of cereal must have made a mark on their profits by now.

[UniFox21]

44 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

I'm not doubting you at all, but this really surprises me, I thought the UK was pretty good at reforming prisoners. 

 

I always thought the US was the place where punishment was favoured over reform. 

We genuinely might be, it's just what I've picked up from various prison documentaries and articles I've seen/read

 

[Daggers]

21 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

We genuinely might be, it's just what I've picked up from various prison documentaries and articles I've seen/read

 

It wasn't a documentary

 

 

[Leeds Fox]

2 hours ago, UniFox21 said:

A really good post there.

 

Another aspect I wanted to highlight is our criminal system, we do treat people with convictions almost as another species. So once you get into that, it's hard to get out. 

 

 

Our prison system is set up to punish, not to re-educate or re-introduce you to 'normal' life. Many other countries, Norway for one, train you in a skill and help you find a career and job following conviction (admittedly for those on less serious/minor offences) 

Surely prison is predominantly a punishment for committing crime that should rehabilitate prisoners prior to their release.

 

Rehabilitate in the aspect that they don’t re-offend, by all means. Crimes vary so much, teaching a skill doesn’t necessarily reduce the likelihood of them re-offending.

 

Some criminals don’t deserve their previous actions wiping from their history, regardless of remorse, reform or rehabilitation. (IMO of course). 
 

Similarly, actions in life don’t necessarily always deserve forgiveness or a second chance in certain aspects. 

Edited 25 July 2023 by Leeds Fox

[ALC Fox]

35 minutes ago, Leeds Fox said:

Surely prison is predominantly a punishment for committing crime that should rehabilitate prisoners prior to their release.

 

Rehabilitate in the aspect that they don’t re-offend, by all means. Crimes vary so much, teaching a skill doesn’t necessarily reduce the likelihood of them re-offending.

 

Some criminals don’t deserve their previous actions wiping from their history, regardless of remorse, reform or rehabilitation. (IMO of course). 
 

Similarly, actions in life don’t necessarily always deserve forgiveness or a second chance in certain aspects. 

There are some who commit such heinous crimes that they can never be forgotten, and nor should they. Some offenders deserve life in jail because they still pose such a high risk to the public.

 

Everyone else, yes, having your freedom taken away is certainly a punishment. Not just that, but people also lose their homes and jobs. I'm sure they may also lose relationships, whether partners, friends or even family.

 

A lot of offenders will leave jail in a position of desperation, with absolutely nothing but perhaps some temporary, sheltered accommodation, or an emergency flat on the roughest estate in town, with job prospects at near zero and their self-esteem and self-worth on the floor. Sometimes, in their desperation, they may feel (rightly or wrongly) that committing a crime is the only choice left for them.

 

It is these offenders, those at real risk of committing minor offences upon release, that need to be helped while they're inside to turn their lives around, to acquire skills that will help them build confidence, get into work, start paying taxes and turn away from crime. That's how, I think, the majority of potential repeat offenders can be avoided.

[SemperEadem]

Anyone seen the price of gaffa tape recently, madness.

[Leeds Fox]

7 hours ago, ALC Fox said:

There are some who commit such heinous crimes that they can never be forgotten, and nor should they. Some offenders deserve life in jail because they still pose such a high risk to the public.

 

Everyone else, yes, having your freedom taken away is certainly a punishment. Not just that, but people also lose their homes and jobs. I'm sure they may also lose relationships, whether partners, friends or even family.

 

A lot of offenders will leave jail in a position of desperation, with absolutely nothing but perhaps some temporary, sheltered accommodation, or an emergency flat on the roughest estate in town, with job prospects at near zero and their self-esteem and self-worth on the floor. Sometimes, in their desperation, they may feel (rightly or wrongly) that committing a crime is the only choice left for them.

 

It is these offenders, those at real risk of committing minor offences upon release, that need to be helped while they're inside to turn their lives around, to acquire skills that will help them build confidence, get into work, start paying taxes and turn away from crime. That's how, I think, the majority of potential repeat offenders can be avoided.

Agree 100%. Some deserve rehabilitation and a second chance. Some deserve rehabilitation in the form of learning a trade or even basic life skills, some need it in a way that educates them how their actions were wrong and how to begin life outside with a different outlook and how not to reoffend (somethings the two go hand in hand).

 

Either way, the individual needs to accept wrong doing and show remorse otherwise rehabilitation is futile.

[Lako42]

13 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

Anyone seen the price of gaffa tape recently, madness.

I've been too tied up to check

[ozleicester]

just a reminder...

[Tommy G]

2 hours ago, ozleicester said:

just a reminder...

You've never mentioned it before 

[ozleicester]

53 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

You've never mentioned it before 

Oh sorry.

I should make myself clear then.....

..."In the debate over what is driving inflation – the OECD has looked at 15 nations across the world and found that in Australia and most other nations, the answer is profits"

https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/oecd-confirms-that-inflation-has-been-mostly-driven-by-corporate-profits/

 

Also ...All of the increases in home loan interest rates means that even more money is going to the banks and their scumbag shareholders, If the government just increased taxes, at least the revenue would go to society.

[Soar Fox]

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/27/british-gas-record-profit-price-cap-increase
 

British Gas record nearly £1 billion in profits, yet people were afraid whether or not they could afford to put their heating on. 

[whoareyaaa]

29 minutes ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/27/british-gas-record-profit-price-cap-increase
 

British Gas record nearly £1 billion in profits, yet people were afraid whether or not they could afford to put their heating on. 

fake recession, fake inflation to keep the world spinning.

[dsr-burnley]

7 hours ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/27/british-gas-record-profit-price-cap-increase
 

British Gas record nearly £1 billion in profits, yet people were afraid whether or not they could afford to put their heating on. 

If British Gas has given all their profits since covid started to the general public, we could all have had £20 extra?  £20 for every man, woman and child in the country?  That's over 10p per week.  (Of course, not all their work is for individuals.  Businesses would share in this bonanza as well.)

 

Look on the bright side.  Their profits were low for the previous 2-3 years and will be lower again in future.

[reporterpenguin]

10 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

If British Gas has given all their profits since covid started to the general public, we could all have had £20 extra?  £20 for every man, woman and child in the country?  That's over 10p per week.  (Of course, not all their work is for individuals.  Businesses would share in this bonanza as well.)

 

Look on the bright side.  Their profits were low for the previous 2-3 years and will be lower again in future.

From the ~£1b in profits the first half of the year and ~7.5m homes they provide energy for that’s £130 per household. 
 

Not an insignificant amount for most people. 
 

I do appreciate they’re trying to catch up on profits from the pandemic and don’t disagree with that, but with the current struggles many people are experiencing the profit levels do seem excessive for the current climate IMO. 
 

https://www.centrica.com/our-businesses/british-gas/

[Heathrow fox]

23 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

If British Gas has given all their profits since covid started to the general public, we could all have had £20 extra?  £20 for every man, woman and child in the country?  That's over 10p per week.  (Of course, not all their work is for individuals.  Businesses would share in this bonanza as well.)

 

Look on the bright side.  Their profits were low for the previous 2-3 years and will be lower again in future.

As the previous poster pointed out it’s £130 per household.Then if you add all the other companies that have made huge profits.That said household use regularly then before you now it,it’s probably approaching a grand.Then double it when you factor in thie current profiteerings effect on inflation.Can you see where this is going?
Meanwhile workers get slated for asking for more.In many cases not even to catch up.Just to be able to excist after years of stagnant wage growth.Stop making excuses for pure greed. 

[dsr-burnley]

1 hour ago, Heathrow fox said:

As the previous poster pointed out it’s £130 per household.Then if you add all the other companies that have made huge profits.That said household use regularly then before you now it,it’s probably approaching a grand.Then double it when you factor in thie current profiteerings effect on inflation.Can you see where this is going?
Meanwhile workers get slated for asking for more.In many cases not even to catch up.Just to be able to excist after years of stagnant wage growth.Stop making excuses for pure greed. 

I think it going in the direction of my getting paid to use gas and electricity.  If I could save £1,000 if the gas board and others made no profits, and then double it for inflation, they would be paying me to heat and light my house.  Lovely.

 

The problem with companies charging too little under the government energy cap was obvious last year.  Half the suppliers went bust.  The idea of the higher government cap is to allow companies that have been making losses or small profits, to build up some reserves so the mass bankruptcies don't happen again.

[ozleicester]

Nationalise essential services.

Make governments responsible for caring not exploiting

[dsr-burnley]

11 hours ago, ozleicester said:

Nationalise essential services.

Make governments responsible for caring not exploiting

The problem with nationalising essential services is that the government and civil service are hopeless at running things.  How much is high speed rail costing today?  It may well have gone up a billion overnight.  They haven't a clue.

 

One of the reasons these entities were denationalised (apart from to raise money, which I don't deny was a factor) was because the service was abysmal.  I see no reason to suppose that it would be any better this time round.

[ozleicester]

4 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

The problem with nationalising essential services is that the government and civil service are hopeless at running things.  How much is high speed rail costing today?  It may well have gone up a billion overnight.  They haven't a clue.

 

One of the reasons these entities were denationalised (apart from to raise money, which I don't deny was a factor) was because the service was abysmal.  I see no reason to suppose that it would be any better this time round.

yep, coz the privatised industries are doing a fantastic job right now.

[dsr-burnley]

Just now, ozleicester said:

yep, coz the privatised industries are doing a fantastic job right now.

British Telecom had a 6 month waiting list for a phone.  British Leyland was a laughing stock.  British Gas and the various electricity companies were better, but had less reliable supply (though part of that was due to strikes).  British Rail provided a worse service the the rail companies do now, and water pollution (in spite of what you might be lead to believe) was worse under nationalised water companies.  The Post Office was better then than now.

[Grebfromgrebland]

5 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

The problem with nationalising essential services is that the government and civil service are hopeless at running things.  How much is high speed rail costing today?  It may well have gone up a billion overnight.  They haven't a clue.

 

One of the reasons these entities were denationalised (apart from to raise money, which I don't deny was a factor) was because the service was abysmal.  I see no reason to suppose that it would be any better this time round.

They were only useless because making them useless was a deliberate ploy to say that privatisation is the only way to fix it.

 

The running down of services is classic policy prior to manufacturing consent.

 

The other reason for poor services is the outright blatant corruption from the regulators and those who negotiate the contracts of service where profits are guaranteed by the tax payer, risk is guaranteed by the tax payer and even massive subsidies are given.

 

Then profits don't have to be reinvested or even taxed.  This leads to poor energy security, food security as well as jeopardising our water security. 

 

Privatisation is a scam supported by a brainwashed weary population who can't imagine another way.

 

You seem to be a clever person so I know that you don't actually believe what you just typed.

 

 

[Dahnsouff]

8 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

yep, coz the privatised industries are doing a fantastic job right now.

So because one thing is bad, the other must be good? Both have poor records to be fair, if you just keep rewriting the past then you will see the same errors. Time for some new thinking with more social responsibility as it’s key aim, and no, that need not mean public ownership, the metrics of success for private ownership need redefining for key services is all.

[leicsmac]

Laissez-faire for essential human needs (eg. bottom two tiers of Maslows Hierarchy) has never worked well, but then total command economy has had problems with it too.

 

Balance is needed.