Cost of living crisis.

[Dames]

There needs to be way more regulation on companies that provide essential services to this Country.

 

If the Tories don't get a grip they could literally find themselves being physically dragged out of no.10 within a year because people will snap.

[Raj]

5 minutes ago, Lako42 said:

One that makes it's obscene amounts of money by selling an essential commodity from underneath everyone's feet. 

 

I understand business but this one is in the business of providing essentials to the entire world. 11.5 billion PROFIT in one qtr when people are in fuel poverty is utterly criminal and If the government of this country wasn't so corrupt / incompetent I would say we need to nationalise anything that provides the things we need to actually be alive. 

 

This speaks volumes.

Shell and BP will justify what they do as a business.

Just like the big pharmaceutical companies do.

Also Matt Hancock's mates selling PPE who made millions for something  the public didnt even receive.

 

Just read that British Gas company Ventric have had a record quarter of profits too when they've  mostly been in the doldrums.

Will this Government  do anything about offsetting the big profits of these companies  to help us like the French government  did with EDF? We know the answer...

 

 

[filthyfox]

On 09/07/2022 at 14:42, grobyfox1990 said:

That doesn’t seem that bad value?! 

Certainly normal on Weymouth harbourside

[yorkie1999]

23 minutes ago, Raj said:

This speaks volumes.

Shell and BP will justify what they do as a business.

Just like the big pharmaceutical companies do.

Also Matt Hancock's mates selling PPE who made millions for something  the public didnt even receive.

 

Just read that British Gas company Ventric have had a record quarter of profits too when they've  mostly been in the doldrums.

Will this Government  do anything about offsetting the big profits of these companies  to help us like the French government  did with EDF? We know the answer...

 

 

Someone’s got to step in soon surely. Just heard on the radio a bloke call in and reckoned his edf bill had gone up from 170 quid to 450 quid…for a month. Might be bollocks but it’s a bit scary if true.

[foxes1988]

22 minutes ago, Raj said:

This speaks volumes.

Shell and BP will justify what they do as a business.

Just like the big pharmaceutical companies do.

Also Matt Hancock's mates selling PPE who made millions for something  the public didnt even receive.

 

Just read that British Gas company Ventric have had a record quarter of profits too when they've  mostly been in the doldrums.

Will this Government  do anything about offsetting the big profits of these companies  to help us like the French government  did with EDF? We know the answer...

 

 

This is the thing we all accept businesses are run to generate profits which is fair enough but expecting employees to accept 14 years of real terms pay cuts and then saying we don't want to add to inflation whilst companies continue to make vast sums of money is a kick in the teeth.  The profits Shell and Centrica are making are not down to business strategy.  Its because of a lack of a competitive market in an essential industry so they've gained many customers from the smaller companies going out of business.

[ozleicester]

1 hour ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

The profits are astranomical so how is it they're putting prices up so much, be it petrol or domestic gas/electric? I get they can but why can't the government just do what they've done in France and put a massive tax on them, or just outright lower the limit they're legally allowed to put prices up? 

As soon as you mention increasing taxes they rush in telling us that it'll ruin our retirement and youll lose all the business's to tax havens etc blah.

The rich and greedy middle class are taking the working class for fools and given the absurd voting patterns in recent years.. with good reason.

In the 50s through the 70s, taxation was as high as 90% for the rich... now it is 45%.... and the gullible continue to vote for these criminals.

[Raj]

16 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

Someone’s got to step in soon surely. Just heard on the radio a bloke call in and reckoned his edf bill had gone up from 170 quid to 450 quid…for a month. Might be bollocks but it’s a bit scary if true.

Who's going to step in to stop anything though?

Whilst the fat cats lick the cream off the top and no doubt give abit to their buddies in Government  to keep quiet we at the bottom are getting fecked good and proper.

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

I think the fact profits on energy companies are higher by, in British Gas' case a factor of 5 (yes, it's a volatile market) would suggest it's not entirely the government screwing us over and that the current inflation is contributed to, in part, by profiteering (despite what the odious Chris Philp, or whichever of Boris' lickspittles is on, says in the media rounds).

 

Don't disagree the government are being utterly negligent on this, as they frankly don't give a sh*t about those affected by price rises, but now we're getting within the half yearly result reporting period, think it might open people's eyes a bit to what the Union chairs have been saying is the cause of inflation.  Maybe inflation is not being exclusively driven by those greedy workers demanding pay and that it's companies cashing in on the situation?  We've seen Tesco's recent spat with Heinz saying the price rises aren't justifiable, they're cashing in everywhere.

 

Companies exist to make a profit and survive by providing a good service, I'm not ignorant of this running a company myself, but hopefully now people will see through the lie that inflation is being driven by wages and not profiteering.  We're being ripped off and it's judged acceptable.  Yes they're a business, but they're a critical infrastructure where people's survival depends on being able to afford the product.  This isn't Haribo where you can boycott them, there has to be a limit.  Even the most libertarians of the Tory party voted on the windfall tax as they were unconfomfortable with it, and this is worse.

Some good points here clearly, I’d only take issue with sentence 1 paragraph 3. We have now clearly confirmed that Milton Friedman was wrong. The business of business is NOT only to do business. The shareholder concept of sole profit maximisation is gone. Stakeholder capitalism is in and vital industries ie energy have many more reasons to exist than solely profit. The current system is broken, as shown here by shell, it’s up to Gen Z to make a new system, because the baby boomers f3cked this up and turned a period of rampant and uninhibited growth into decades long stagnation.

 

Before any 60 year olds lambast me and detail how hard they’ve worked forever and obvs deserve their 50x increase in house value, I’m not blaming any individual, the generation messed it up 

[ozleicester]

18 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Some good points here clearly, I’d only take issue with sentence 1 paragraph 3. We have now clearly confirmed that Milton Friedman was wrong. The business of business is NOT only to do business. The shareholder concept of sole profit maximisation is gone. Stakeholder capitalism is in and vital industries ie energy have many more reasons to exist than solely profit. The current system is broken, as shown here by shell, it’s up to Gen Z to make a new system, because the baby boomers f3cked this up and turned a period of rampant and uninhibited growth into decades long stagnation.

 

Before any 60 year olds lambast me and detail how hard they’ve worked forever and obvs deserve their 50x increase in house value, I’m not blaming any individual, the generation messed it up 

Agreed, but!... the following generations have continued to vote for this.

The labour party is way too far to the right, but the media continue to convince them that this is the only way... it isnt, we can significantly increase taxes, you can re nationalise industry. Until the working class recognise that they are the only ones suffering and do something to change it... then nothing changes.

EDit - "Socialism" is not a dangerous word (unless you are rich)

Edited 28 July 2022 by ozleicester

[yorkie1999]

1 hour ago, Raj said:

Who's going to step in to stop anything though?

Whilst the fat cats lick the cream off the top and no doubt give abit to their buddies in Government  to keep quiet we at the bottom are getting fecked good and proper.

I think there’s two ways it could go, either mass riots and anarchy and the Houses of Parliament being blown up with gunpowder, or Everton write to their mp telling they’re losing their vote if the government don’t step in.

 

 

Auto spelling is stupid.

Edited 28 July 2022 by yorkie1999

[kyleolly]

Petrol seems to be coming down in price a few places are down to £1.76 a litre hopefully it will continue to drop.

[Foxdiamond]

2 hours ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

The profits are astranomical so how is it they're putting prices up so much, be it petrol or domestic gas/electric? I get they can but why can't the government just do what they've done in France and put a massive tax on them, or just outright lower the limit they're legally allowed to put prices up? 

The whole thing seems a racket. You could understand prices going up and up if profits were minimal but surely we are being ripped off if profits are so far in excess. This is the trouble about hands off government that will be putting share holders above the people. 

[Tommy G]

I'm combatting the cost of living crisis by keeping the mrs away from the tumble dryer this winter....

[leicsmac]

2 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Haha yeh more a trivial example to detail how far the electorate will go to buy the lies the govt spell out. Because blaming the current crisis conveniently and solely on putin is a lie, we all know that 

 

And even then, the looming possibility of 100m starving Africans turning up on our doorstep doesn’t seem to be high up the agenda! As I keep saying in our risk mgt meetings at work, the last time Ukrainian wheat was blocked the arab spring occurred, what high level social unrest will this blockade bring?!? 

If I might float a horrific possibility, the looming possibility - indeed, inevitability if things done change - of at least 100m starving people from Africa and elsewhere isn't high up on the agenda because the various richer powers have absolutely no intention of helping those people anyway.

 

If there is another possibility that takes into account the scientific facts of the matter, then I'd be glad to hear it as I would like another logical conclusion than millions of people suffering and dying because more powerful people simply don't care.

[Foxdiamond]

43 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Some good points here clearly, I’d only take issue with sentence 1 paragraph 3. We have now clearly confirmed that Milton Friedman was wrong. The business of business is NOT only to do business. The shareholder concept of sole profit maximisation is gone. Stakeholder capitalism is in and vital industries ie energy have many more reasons to exist than solely profit. The current system is broken, as shown here by shell, it’s up to Gen Z to make a new system, because the baby boomers f3cked this up and turned a period of rampant and uninhibited growth into decades long stagnation.

 

Before any 60 year olds lambast me and detail how hard they’ve worked forever and obvs deserve their 50x increase in house value, I’m not blaming any individual, the generation messed it up 

The Thatcher years are coming home to roost and yet Truss sees herself as Thatcher. Take for example the housing crisis. There was no housing crisis until Thatcher started to bribe voters by selling off council houses on the cheap.  Now the privatisation of energy is showing how little this government cares. 

[Trumpet]

17 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I'm combatting the cost of living crisis by keeping the mrs away from the tumble dryer this winter....

This is actually a good point. I’ve not had a tumble dryer for years. I use a Dry Soon Deluxe instead. Bit pricy up front but it’s cheap to run and generally drys everything when left on over night. 

[grobyfox1990]

16 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

If I might float a horrific possibility, the looming possibility - indeed, inevitability if things done change - of at least 100m starving people from Africa and elsewhere isn't high up on the agenda because the various richer powers have absolutely no intention of helping those people anyway.

 

If there is another possibility that takes into account the scientific facts of the matter, then I'd be glad to hear it as I would like another logical conclusion than millions of people suffering and dying because more powerful people simply don't care.

That's it though and the point i'm making, it is an inevitability, and tens of millions of people will suffer and die because powerful people could not see the wood for the trees.

 

They will all be landing up on European shores, hence making it absolutely top of the agenda for all politicians across the bloc as their own citizens protest and, lo and behold, the starving masses will be blamed, not the ones that caused it!!!! This is happening right now, Putin is the convenient bogeyman for years of short-sightedness and utter neglect. I'd wager there's millions of people across the UK that think Putin is the reason they are paying 180p a litre and about £500 a week for gas. Madness!!

[String fellow]

10 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

That's it though and the point i'm making, it is an inevitability, and tens of millions of people will suffer and die because powerful people could not see the wood for the trees.

 

They will all be landing up on European shores, hence making it absolutely top of the agenda for all politicians across the bloc as their own citizens protest and, lo and behold, the starving masses will be blamed, not the ones that caused it!!!! This is happening right now, Putin is the convenient bogeyman for years of short-sightedness and utter neglect. I'd wager there's millions of people across the UK that think Putin is the reason they are paying 180p a litre and about £500 a week for gas. Madness!!

But is it? I guess it's easy just to blame everything on our government and to pretend that other forces aren't also contributing factors.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/blog/reasons-for-uk-gas-price-increase

[Daggers]

Something that runs a close second to oxygen isn't a business, it's a human need.

 

Pricing a sizeable chunk of the population out of being able to heat water is just morally bankrupt. Other countries can see this needs action, unfortunately our current administration is at the beck and call of Tufton Street gits (amazingly, sponsored by energy companies). 

 

Privatisation has led to unaffordable energy prices, rivers full of shit, and failing rail services. The ombudsman organisations have completely failed. There's no question in my mind that all of these need to be drawn back into public control.

[leicsmac]

16 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

That's it though and the point i'm making, it is an inevitability, and tens of millions of people will suffer and die because powerful people could not see the wood for the trees.

 

They will all be landing up on European shores, hence making it absolutely top of the agenda for all politicians across the bloc as their own citizens protest and, lo and behold, the starving masses will be blamed, not the ones that caused it!!!! This is happening right now, Putin is the convenient bogeyman for years of short-sightedness and utter neglect. I'd wager there's millions of people across the UK that think Putin is the reason they are paying 180p a litre and about £500 a week for gas. Madness!!

Yep, that's accurate, more's the pity.

 

As I said in the Sci/Tech thread, a hope that I hold out for is that one day those who are so clearly manipulating matters to maintain the status quo at the expense of lives and the future somehow, some way, answer for it.

 

1 minute ago, String fellow said:

But is it? I guess it's easy just to blame everything on our government and to pretend that other forces aren't also contributing factors.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/blog/reasons-for-uk-gas-price-increase

It's certainly a complex matter, with lots of accountable parties both in the UK and abroad.

 

Thing is though, if something like the present times causes this much stress to a privatised system of energy generation and distribution, then it's clearly not fit for purpose against the much tougher times that in all likelihood lie ahead on that front.

[Daggers]

4 minutes ago, String fellow said:

But is it? I guess it's easy just to blame everything on our government and to pretend that other forces aren't also contributing factors.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/blog/reasons-for-uk-gas-price-increase

British Gas/Centrica's profits are up from £262million to £1.34billion

 

Shell almost doubled its second quarter profits from £4.5billion to £9.4billion

 

That is nothing to do with Russia. It is everything to do with obscene profiteering.

[orangecity23]

Worst part is Shell aren't even investing that cash in improving their business, think what they could do with 6 billion invested in green energy research. Instead they are doing a share buyback, which takes the cash out the business and inflates the stock price, a move that only benefits the shareholders, which coincidentally, all the top executives will happen to have a big old shareholding as part of their pay package.

[Foxdiamond]

Just wondering if this just might be leading to a Poll Tax riot scenario that resulted in Thatcher going. Could this government fall with or without a new leader. Just to confirm I am not advocating violence.

[grobyfox1990]

7 minutes ago, String fellow said:

But is it? I guess it's easy just to blame everything on our government and to pretend that other forces aren't also contributing factors.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/blog/reasons-for-uk-gas-price-increase

Yep total and utter madness for a number of reasons that i believe (not fact just opinion) that i can briefly outline whilst taking a sh1t

 

1. Putin has been threatening this for nearly a decade, why are we still so intrinsically tied to Russia? Because we have dunces in charge are could not see a deer in their wing mirrors

2. Which ties into 'other nations are buying more gas' - Asian countries are managed well, they saw a crisis coming and stockpiled LNG well in advance, the dunces in our country were more concerned with milking cash from covid

3. It's 2022!!! Why on earth are we still relying on gas and petrol!!! we have been warned about the dangers of this for literally decades!! Again, the dunces in charge are more concerned with power than protecting their people.

4. Failure to invest in home grown and/or renewable energy sources during the boom years to make us self sufficient, the dunces in charge were more concerned with using the boom years to enrich themselves.

 

Also that article LOL - 'we had a long winter' - who'd have guessed that would happen in the UK!!!

 

As you can tell i believe we have utter dunces in charge whose horizon scanning, risk mgt, scenario analysis and crisis preparation ability stretches to around 1 day in advance. I.e they have totally failed to do their jobs, they've been found out and are blaming it on others

[yorkie1999]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

If I might float a horrific possibility, the looming possibility - indeed, inevitability if things done change - of at least 100m starving people from Africa and elsewhere isn't high up on the agenda because the various richer powers have absolutely no intention of helping those people anyway.

 

If there is another possibility that takes into account the scientific facts of the matter, then I'd be glad to hear it as I would like another logical conclusion than millions of people suffering and dying because more powerful people simply don't care.

How many times in the past have helped out starving Africans? Quite a few I’d say.  Maybe, instead of sending them food packages we should have sent them spades. They could have grown their own crops by now, and they wouldn’t be starving.