Cost of Living Crisis

[Salt n Vinegar]

2 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

Boris Johnson has stated measures to help with energy bills are coming but won't be announced until the new PM is in place.

What an absolute coward of a man. 

Given the current PM's attitude to his rejection by his own party, to me it seems just as likely that he knows that ET is opposed to giving what she refers to as handouts and has backed her into a corner with his 'help is coming' announcement. ET is probably seething. 

[GTG_03]

34 minutes ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

Given the current PM's attitude to his rejection by his own party, to me it seems just as likely that he knows that ET is opposed to giving what she refers to as handouts and has backed her into a corner with his 'help is coming' announcement. ET is probably seething. 

I was just thinking this, he's telling the public there will be help which puts truss under pressure immediately. His ego must still be bruised from all the resignations and rejection from his party. 

I still think he'll try and come back after truss is binned which won't take long as she's utterly hopeless.

[Antlion]

7 minutes ago, GTG_03 said:

I was just thinking this, he's telling the public there will be help which puts truss under pressure immediately. His ego must still be bruised from all the resignations and rejection from his party. 

I still think he'll try and come back after truss is binned which won't take long as she's utterly hopeless.

Aye, I doubt if Johnson knows or cares about any future help or support - certainly not in any detail. To be honest, I doubt it’s even a deliberate plot to pressure Truss - I suspect he’s simply using “the next PM will do something” as a means of not having to say or do anything himself, because that would involve scrutiny and criticism and just generally be worrrkkk.

Don’t forget that Johnson is lazy and likely to be even more disinclined to work knowing that he’ll be out soon anyway. “There will be help - it’s not for me to say what” means “not my fucking problem - I’m just clock-eating so I last longer than May”.

[101]

12 minutes ago, Antlion said:

not my fucking problem - I’m just clock-eating so I last longer than May”.

Spot on imagine being that petty, he has small man syndrome for a fairly tall chap or has a cock the size of an acorn.

[Salt n Vinegar]

4 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

I was just thinking this, he's telling the public there will be help which puts truss under pressure immediately. His ego must still be bruised from all the resignations and rejection from his party. 

I still think he'll try and come back after truss is binned which won't take long as she's utterly hopeless.

Looks like ET's no' havin' it... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62703858

" Liz Truss has "ruled out" further direct support for everyone to help cover the cost of surging energy bills, sources close to her have told the BBC.

....... 

But Ms Truss's team said she was not considering further universal support, like the £400 payment that all households will receive this winter."

Loosely translated as.... "Oi! Bojo! Shut yer pus! 

[Clown Job]

22 minutes ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

Looks like ET's no' havin' it... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62703858

" Liz Truss has "ruled out" further direct support for everyone to help cover the cost of surging energy bills, sources close to her have told the BBC.

....... 

But Ms Truss's team said she was not considering further universal support, like the £400 payment that all households will receive this winter."

Loosely translated as.... "Oi! Bojo! Shut yer pus! 

Said it in the other thread but I’ve had discussion with my parents about selling my property in the next few weeks and moving back home for a while 

Inflation, interest rates rising and these energy hikes are making it unaffordable for me to survive on my own and I earn a decent wage

I really need to believe the above when she says they’re not going to provide support. I can’t take the risk that when she’s in power they might have a change of mind

Its embarrassing the thought of doing it, but I’m at the point where I’m struggling to see any real alternatives 

Plus I think it will do my mental health wonders not spending every day worrying about money and keeping myself warm

[btb]

My main worry is that energy price rise is not gonna be a spike but the new, erm, normal.

Ner cast a cloot till May is oot and all that.....

[Todd_is_God]

1 hour ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

Looks like ET's no' havin' it... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62703858

" Liz Truss has "ruled out" further direct support for everyone to help cover the cost of surging energy bills, sources close to her have told the BBC.

....... 

But Ms Truss's team said she was not considering further universal support, like the £400 payment that all households will receive this winter."

Loosely translated as.... "Oi! Bojo! Shut yer pus! 

It's frustrating to read headlines like this because nothing in the article rules out anything to do with a price cap freeze.

It's possible for LT to offer "no direct universal support", but still freeze the cap somewhere and cut taxes / green levvies / offer targetted support.

It's very much like the covid sagas just now where we had constant articles and quotes on a subject that actually contain no information at all. One day we have stories saying one thing, the next the opposite.

Personally, unless they are actually going to reveal details, I'd rather they gave it a bye and just waited till the PM is in place and they then say what they are going to do.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Todd_is_God

[Antlion]

30 minutes ago, btb said:

My main worry is that energy price rise is not gonna be a spike but the new, erm, normal.

Ner cast a cloot till May is oot and all that.....

 

[Detournement]

The VAT cut idea is mental.

5% off bills that have went up 120% and  nothing off food. Clearly it will benefit people with disposable income rather than people struggling and that's if businesses pass it on at all. 

The £1300 pounds per household figure is utter pish. It would mean you are already spending £4900 a year on VAT for a gross total of roughly 30 grand a year on VAT applicable items.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Detournement

[Todd_is_God]

1 hour ago, Detournement said:

The VAT cut idea is mental.

5% off bills that have went up 120% and  nothing off food. Clearly it will benefit people with disposable income rather than people struggling and that's if businesses pass it on at all. 

The £1300 pounds per household figure is utter pish. It would mean you are already spending £4900 a year on VAT for a gross total of roughly 30 grand a year on VAT applicable items.

Even if the £1,300 was accurate, that would be swallowed up and then some by inflation.

£1,300 off an annual bill which is going to increase by around £4,000 also isn't really much help.

There is little point in focusing on help vs the October cap either because the cap is going to go much higher soon, and gas usage over the October-Jan period is far above the average.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Todd_is_God

[HTG]

2 hours ago, Clown Job said:

Said it in the other thread but I’ve had discussion with my parents about selling my property in the next few weeks and moving back home for a while 

Inflation, interest rates rising and these energy hikes are making it unaffordable for me to survive on my own and I earn a decent wage

I really need to believe the above when she says they’re not going to provide support. I can’t take the risk that when she’s in power they might have a change of mind

Its embarrassing the thought of doing it, but I’m at the point where I’m struggling to see any real alternatives 

Plus I think it will do my mental health wonders not spending every day worrying about money and keeping myself warm

You're not going to be alone - there will be thousands like you and it's not you - or them - who should be embarrassed. 

I know these arseholes are holding off so they can give the new PM a positive start (on the basis that saying something will be better than the vacuum in place at the moment) but the economy is about to fall off a cliff.  

The cost of energy for households is the first part of the stress - especially those on their own with lower/ middle incomes. The second is the impact on businesses. Most will be on fixed tariffs but as those come to an end in increasing numbers over the months ahead, these businesses are either going to go to the wall or push prices through the roof. Either way, that level of uncertainty could easily crash the economy - feels like a question of when rather than if. 

Finally, people may die this winter in greater numbers than we've seen in a very long time. 

It's an absolute disgrace for a supposed first world economy. And that fat c**t trying to tell us we need to accept it because it's not as bad as Ukraine and we need to "do our bit" is disgusting. 

[welshbairn]

I suspect Truss is deliberately understating her plans to reduce expectations, then when she takes power she'll announce a Covid level plan to support homes and businesses, timing it to coincide with the 3 months popularity bubble new leaders invariably get, and calling a General Election in late November.  

[Todd_is_God]

1 minute ago, welshbairn said:

I suspect Truss is deliberately understating her plans to reduce expectations, then when she takes power she'll announce a Covid level plan to support homes and businesses, timing it to coincide with the 3 months popularity bubble new leaders invariably get, and calling a General Election in late November.  

That would be a massive risk IMO.

[welshbairn]

Just now, Todd_is_God said:

That would be a massive risk IMO.

They might think the risk of delaying it is even more, looking back at Gordon Brown's fuckup.

[Todd_is_God]

3 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

They might think the risk of delaying it is even more, looking back at Gordon Brown's fuckup.

Maybe. I think they'd almost certainly lose a GE in November, though, whilst they might have a chance in 2024 if they make the correct decisions between now and then.

[parsforlife]

Genuinely doesn’t feel like those in(or will be in) charge have the slightest clue about the impact the increase will make on the majority.  For them the absolute worst case if the haven’t sorted there finances well enough to profit from the situation is they’d move a handful Michelin star restaurant bookings or book a slightly smaller villa for one of their dozen holidays a year. 

It doesn’t matter to them to delay action, for them waiting on a few grand is normal, they have more than enough funds to cover the gap.  

[welshbairn]

4 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Maybe. I think they'd almost certainly lose a GE in November, though, whilst they might have a chance in 2024 if they make the correct decisions between now and then.

It would only happen if there's a big bounce in the polls which in Truss's case I'd think would be very odd despite the historical precedent. Then I didn't think folk would vote for Brexit, Boris or Trump, so what do I know. You can get 10/1 on a 2022 election, might have a small flutter.

[Michael W]

There's almost no chance Truss will go to the polls. The Tories will get gubbed and she already has a majority of 74 or something. Unless a fair amount of Tories decide they'll go into open revolt against her and start blocking/voting against the government, she'll see it out until the public are given the chance to hand her her jotters. 

Volunteering yourself for election when the entire country is worse off and a substantial amount are looking at unaffordable bills is a level of stupidity even Liz Truss won't sink to. More's the pitty are her unseriousness and unfitness from office are on display for all to see. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Michael W

[welshbairn]

57 minutes ago, Michael W said:

There's almost no chance Truss will go to the polls. The Tories will get gubbed and she already has a majority of 74 or something. Unless a fair amount of Tories decide they'll go into open revolt against her and start blocking/voting against the government, she'll see it out until the public are given the chance to hand her her jotters. 

Volunteering yourself for election when the entire country is worse off and a substantial amount are looking at unaffordable bills is a level of stupidity even Liz Truss won't sink to. More's the pitty are her unseriousness and unfitness from office are on display for all to see. 

I didn't click that it's a full 2 1/2 years before they have to hold an election. If Patrick Minford is going to be her main economics adviser though, it might be better going early than waiting for her to utterly wreck the economy by late 2024.