@gpo1971 IMO the water company's are worse than the Gas/Elec company's.
Absolute monopoly, with 0 choice. They're saying can't use hosepipes and shower for 1 min less to save water etc. whilst they're wasting 3 BILLION (With a B) litres PER DAY.
Why doesn't the regulator just fine them a penny a litre per day over a certain amount (As there will always be some leaks) and see how quickly they invest to get them fixed!
On the power side all this getting extra help from the government is rubbish, as we're all paying for it and when help doesn't come next year or the year after it's a green light to keep prices sky high.
When it pours down with rain we have floods; when it doesn’t rain we have a water shortage.
In other words, when the weather behaves normally and the water companies can cope, the directors are awarded generous bonuses and investors get a handsome payout.
IMHO a bonus is only deserved when companies cope with events that are not the norm.
@torn-sock-1 Quite right. These Companies are ripping off the British public, aided and abetted by the Government.
There should be a cap on profits and huge salaries and bonuses paid to the parasites running these companies. There should also be an immediate windfall tax on the profits made by these companies, to pay for the help needed by working people to meet the current price increases.
We are now paying the price for the sell-off of public utilities, which we were assured would bring better services and investment. I didn’t agree much with Corbyn, but I think he had it right when proposing that public utilities be brought back into public ownership.
With prices heading skywards, do you reckon Bojo is privately thinking "I'm soooooooo glad to be out of it!" or summat of that ilk?
Either the multi-millionaire, or the former remain supporting Lib Dem, will be thrown in the deep end, that was vacated by the blond buffoon.
So, is he laughing all the way to the back benches?
Spelly.
@spelly I reckon that Johnson sees himself as Trump and dreams of a glorious return to lead the Conservative Party. If and when he believes this is not going to happen, he will return to a life of luxury, making millions from book deals, newspaper articles, and public appearances - as well as all the freebies he demands from his supporters.
Why anyone would pay money to listen to this buffoon or read anything he has written, is beyond me.
@spelly 1) I reckon that Johnson sees himself as Trump and dreams of a glorious return to lead the Conservative Party. If and when he believes this is not going to happen, 2) he will return to a life of luxury, making millions from book deals, newspaper articles, and public appearances - as well as all the freebies he demands from his supporters. 3) Why anyone would pay money to listen to this buffoon or read anything he has written, is beyond me.
1) Trump perhaps mate, but I'd say not Johnson. The Yank who won't even accept the fact that he was democratically defeated at the ballot box, is living the impossible dream of returning to hot seat, backed by "supporters" of the like who tried to wreck the Capitol. Heaven forbid that he should ever become leader again!
2) Johnson won't (or ever will) be concerned where the next meal is coming from, because of he'll do exactly what you suggest, but................
3) Amen to that!
Spelly.
All this giving people money to help pay their bills is the wrong way to go about this. (1) the money still ends up in the hands of the corporations and (2) it's borrowed money that we'll all be paying back anyway.
Starmer's plan, whilst better than anything the Tories have come up with and are likely to ultimately copy and brand as their own, is still borrowed money; and will still allow these corporations to fleece people until they're bailed out again. It would be worth the extra investment to just put all utilities back into public ownership and be done with it once and for all.
Have you checked your supermarket receipt lately? There's no way food inflation is 9%. I'd say more like 20%+. With utilities the way they are and petrol, albeit slightly reduced, I'm not sure where this 9%-10% inflation figure is coming from. Inflation for normal people is more like 25%. So when you see workers asking for 10% or thereabouts, and being lambasted for it as seems to be happening now, have a word with yourself. CEOs and shareholders are not losing out, ordinary people are.
I support all strike action. These raises are not related to Ukraine; most are profiteering, plain and simple.
The underfunding and lack of investment that the country has seen since 2010 is phenomenal and killing us. How much is it going to cost to fully stock us with doctors, nurses, care workers, police, public sector workers? Not just to retain the ones we have now but to attract new ones to want to take on these highly skilled roles? The answer is thousands of billions of pounds.
Where's that money going to come from? It's not going to come from Brexit, which is bollox. It can only start be gained from taxing massive corporates and our millionaires and billionaires. There is no other 'give' in our economy.
This country has become a place to avoid. Who would want to get old or ill or needy here? This is not even a party political issue, we need a fundamental restructure in the way that our country operates. The answer is not Truss, it's not Starmer, it's a root and branch change to the way the country is set up to operate.
I don't think it will happen. And this country is set to fail, and probably fall. Energy deaths will outstrip Covid deaths. We're killing our people.
It's Sunday 4th September 2022. There's going to be a new Prime Minister tomorrow.
The first thing that this new Prime Minister is going to do is lie to you. Lie that there's an easy way out of the catastrophe that this country is involved in. There is no easy way. The country's fu**ed.
If you think that someone new is going to walk into #10 and sort our problems, you're wrong. I'm guessing you read the Mail or the Express. That's a shame.
This country needs a control/alt/reset, nothing less. The new story is that our own self-prophesied doom is precipitating this; it's not, things really are this bad.
The better way is to start from scratch. The way we've been living is wrong. It doesn't work and a change of figurehead won't make a difference.
Let's see what happens (or doesn't).
So we now have a third lady PM, following the Grantham Witch, and the Brexit didn't mean Brexiteer.
Prices continue to head north, the ongoing problem regarding the protocol in the six counties, Nutty Nicola unswerving to have Indyref 2, to mention just three of the items there'll be in her intray.
An early general election is highly unlikely, as the Red Wall seats would be in severe danger, so it looks like we're stuck with Truss emerging from the most famous front door in the land for two years at least.
At least, the blond buffoon is (for now) history, but can a former Lib Dem remainer put the "Great" back into Great Britain?
I for one, am not holding my breath!
Spelly (still well left of centre)
Does anyone think this Truss Govt will last till Xmas? The ineptitude is staggering. They're that bad, the Mail and Express are running stories about flu and Covid, even they can't put a spin on this. I think Liz is hiding in the same fridge that The Buffoon used to.
We need a GE now, we can't let these f*ckwits loose on the economy for 2 more years, we'll never recover.
Does anyone think this Truss Govt will last till Xmas? The ineptitude is staggering. They're that bad, the Mail and Express are running stories about flu and Covid, even they can't put a spin on this. I think Liz is hiding in the same fridge that The Buffoon used to.
We need a GE now, we can't let these f*ckwits loose on the economy for 2 more years, we'll never recover.
Much as I'd love a general election mate, they've that massive majority to sit back on, and in my opinion, it'd be suicide for 'em if they did, so I'm not holding my breath!
Prices heading north, and the pound heading in the opposite direction, it'll be interesting how she approaches her speech at the conference next week, but she'll no doubt 101% support the changes Kwarteng has made, which of course will be followed by a stage-managed standing ovation.
As you know, I'm not Starmer's biggest fan, but I'm the first to admit that he wowed 'em in Liverpool last week. However (not for the first time) the party then shot itself in the foot, with that clown making a racist remark about the Chancellor.
Spelly.
I am not sure that Truss will last very long, with Tory MPs looking increasingly at an election defeat. If she hangs on until 2024, I believe election defeat is inevitable. Maybe, the Tories will plan another political assassination this year, with a view to bringing back Boris or a more competent and electable leader (if they can find one!!); and then go for an early election in 2023 with a hope of bringing back former Tory voters.
Did you hear her on the radio yesterday? I'm not sure how she ever became an MP, let alone PM. Madness.