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The Great Squeeze: Cost of Living Crisis 2022
- Thread starter AstroDan
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Depends on how much you have in the kitty though.
If you have done well through your life employment wise, you may not need 10%, I agree.
If you are on a means tested pension, then the 10% is needed to keep people out of absolute poverty.
Acute levels of inflation, back in the seventies and now, and four doses of recession over their working lives, means the massive divisions between the well off and needy are still obvious at the end of working lives.
Fuel is a major cost for the elderly, and fuel costs are doubling over a short period of time.
If you have done well through your life employment wise, you may not need 10%, I agree.
If you are on a means tested pension, then the 10% is needed to keep people out of absolute poverty.
Acute levels of inflation, back in the seventies and now, and four doses of recession over their working lives, means the massive divisions between the well off and needy are still obvious at the end of working lives.
Fuel is a major cost for the elderly, and fuel costs are doubling over a short period of time.
I think its the same situation for pensioners and the rest of us - there are some very wealthy ones who wont need it, and there are some in dire need of help. Also dont forget, many of us don't need the heating on all day to stay warm, whereas many older people have to keep their heating on during the days when we are out at work. What I have always found crazy though is the winter fuel allowance which goes to pensioners living in countries such as Spain who actually don't need it.
This is the problem with giving taxations and treasury-sourced payments a gimmicky name... it's all just cash ultimately. Same with NI - it's just tax (with the exception of that gimmicky bit they added on this year, which will in turn too eventually be rerouted to general taxation).
Universal basic income could sort all this.
AT86
TS Member
Warning energy bills to hit over £4,200 in January https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62475171
Maybe we have become desensitised due to the press often throwing around words like ‘crisis’ but the situation with energy prices really is very scary indeed and doesn’t seem to be getting the coverage it really needs.
The price cap for average usage was £1,200 in Jan 2022, it is expected to be £4,200 in Jan 2023.
This is madness and there will be serious issues with people being able to afford their bills. £350 a month on average for gas and electric, with many people paying more depending on usage etc. This can’t be sustainable surely?
Maybe we have become desensitised due to the press often throwing around words like ‘crisis’ but the situation with energy prices really is very scary indeed and doesn’t seem to be getting the coverage it really needs.
The price cap for average usage was £1,200 in Jan 2022, it is expected to be £4,200 in Jan 2023.
This is madness and there will be serious issues with people being able to afford their bills. £350 a month on average for gas and electric, with many people paying more depending on usage etc. This can’t be sustainable surely?
shakey
TS Member
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My council employer have put forward an across the board pay rise of £1,925 , so everyone gets the same rise regardless of what they earn.
I think that is a very good idea. Those at the lower end will be getting around 10%
Much less of a % increase for those on higher wages but living costs have pretty much gone up the same for everyone so I think its a much fairer way of doing things.
It's currently with the union to agree or not. So no doubt a long wait before they decide anything as usual.
I think that is a very good idea. Those at the lower end will be getting around 10%
Much less of a % increase for those on higher wages but living costs have pretty much gone up the same for everyone so I think its a much fairer way of doing things.
It's currently with the union to agree or not. So no doubt a long wait before they decide anything as usual.
What do you do with them?
shakey
TS Member
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Guessing to use as firewood
pluk
TS Member
Burn them to keep warm. I'm prone to a bit of foraging myself for my wood burner.
That's what they've done with us in the police. It's not actually that great for me as I'm not at the bottom of the pay scales, but it seems a sensible idea for now.
We just had a log burner fitted for the winter. We won’t be timing on the gas much this year. We need to reopen some of the mothballed coal powered power stations and nuclear ones for another year until we find a way out of this.
I don’t see things changing when the Ukraine war is over because the west will still be reluctant to buy Russian gas and oil.
Renewable energy won’t give us the amount we require and we really have to crack on with rapidly building new power stations. I think I read somewhere that the UK currently has 11 nuclear power stations compared to France which has 57.
With France not being to operate some of theirs it means we can’t import the extra we need from them for this winter.
And they are trying to move everyone in to electric cars ha ha ha ha ha ha thank God most people still have petrol or diesel cars else we would be in a right mess.
I don’t see things changing when the Ukraine war is over because the west will still be reluctant to buy Russian gas and oil.
Renewable energy won’t give us the amount we require and we really have to crack on with rapidly building new power stations. I think I read somewhere that the UK currently has 11 nuclear power stations compared to France which has 57.
With France not being to operate some of theirs it means we can’t import the extra we need from them for this winter.
And they are trying to move everyone in to electric cars ha ha ha ha ha ha thank God most people still have petrol or diesel cars else we would be in a right mess.
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
Gas and electric used to be cheaper than my monthly council tax payment, now it’s nearly half the cost of my rent. Won’t be long before it surpasses that if things keep going the way they are, this is madness.
No we don't, the government just need to take action, like in other countries. If the government listened to Gordon Browns suggestions he made the other day we'd be in a much better solution.
The west isn't reluctant to buy Russian gas, Russia has cut gas supplies off from Germany and other countries. We shouldn't need to buy Russian gas anyway. The government just need to take actions to build more nuclear and renewable energy sources. The UK is one of the best countries for several renewable energy production techniques. We've got wind, plenty of water for wave power (being an island, solar and we've got space for nuclear plants too. We should be a mass exporter of energy but we aren't because the government haven't taken action.
Petrol and Diesel isn't expensive at all is it? I think it's actually more expensive than electricity still although that's a fine line. The point is that yes we need more electric cars and quick however we need more renewable energy plants first. These should have already been built or be in construction but the government has failed to act. Oh and we also need to build infrastructure for hydrogen cars as they need to be part of the future too. But again we are lagging behind because the government hasn't done anything about it.
There's no quick solution however people are struggle because the government haven't acted. They could start off by helping people pay the bills and then look at ways to bring them down, especially introducing renewables.
Benzin
TS Member
Unfortunately the two potential leaders of this country are too busy stoking up a culture war or stating that they'll "save" Brexit (which was done wasn't it?) to actually give us any action to what they will do to sort it.
Rishi will probably siphon funds from the poor people again tbh.
Rishi will probably siphon funds from the poor people again tbh.
DistortAMG
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Do you even pay attention to what we are doing on the ground in this country?
Hinckley Point C, a huge project that was approved by the government in 2008, with construction starting not long after is finally nearing completion. A huge new generation of Nuclear power plant design. Love or hate Nuclear, that is for a different discussion. What they do very well however is provide huge amounts of stable and relatively clean power (as long as waste is disposed of correctly). They certainly are one of the best technologies we have right now for producing huge amounts of power in a small footprint (compared to say a wind farm). The government have also (weeks ago) just approved another new generation nuclear plant too, the huge Sizewell C nuclear generating facility, construction expected to take about 12 years.
Right now, we have the worlds largest wind farm, bar non, the largest off shore windfarm in the world is just off our east cost. Hornsea 1. With Hornsea 2 currently in construction and expected to be larger than Hornsea 1.
I am sorry but we are doing quite a lot. Those four massive projects that have been in the works in some form or another for decades, prove that.
This does nothing however, to solve our cost of living and high energy prices. Neither will it, companies are too interested in making lots of money.
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Yes and these are great, but why did they take decades? Why did Hinckley point C take from 2008 until now? I know nuclear reactors don't work straight the way but I was under the impression it was much faster than about 10 years?
Wind farms are great, we need more than the 1 that's currently under construction. We've got the best wind farm, I agree however we need more.
In the short term it will do very little to help the cost of living I agree, however long term it could well stabilise energy prices for us in the future. As for what needs to happen now, the government needs to actually help people pay there energy bills. Further to this it needs to tax these massive companies properly, the windfall tax they put on eventually (after Labour argued for it for months) was so watered down it is practically useless.
Gordon Brown had every opportunity to instigate massive new nuclear/wind/tide schemes when he was in power..
He didn't.
Easy to be a smartarse after the event isn't it?
He also refused to increase taxation to create a more equal country.
Just another Tory in disguise after Blair.
We had every chance to lead Europe with nuclear power.
The government chose not to invest.
Tidal schemes have been talked about since the seventies.
Talk is cheap.
He didn't.
Easy to be a smartarse after the event isn't it?
He also refused to increase taxation to create a more equal country.
Just another Tory in disguise after Blair.
We had every chance to lead Europe with nuclear power.
The government chose not to invest.
Tidal schemes have been talked about since the seventies.
Talk is cheap.
That's me saying that not Gordon Brown. He brought this country through the last financial crisis, where he set the global precedent of bank bailouts that by all accounts saved a massive portion of the global economy.
Perhaps because at the time it didn't make financial sense? it does now. I hardly think Gordon Brown is a Tory.
I agree with this, the Labour government should've invested in nuclear power and they should've done it for the whole decade they were in power, they didn't and that was a grave mistake.
Gordon Brown didn't have an easy ride as Prime Minister, he didn't get a proper chance, as his whole premiership was spent dealing with the financial crisis. He seems to truly care about making this country fairer but didn't have the opportunity to do so. We needed more of Brown and this country missed out on the opportunity to have a better government under him than the tories. Sure Brown was no Harold Wilson or Clement Atlee (who I believe was the best PM this country has ever seen) but he certainly could've done great things.
DistortAMG
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Building a nuclear power station is not like building a Tesco, they are the cutting edge of science, engineering and technology. It has taken 10 to 12 years because the construction of nuclear power stations is so complex, they take between 8 and 15 years to build depending on the complexity. It is not the government or anyone stalling, this is how long they take to build, period. There has never been a nuclear power station in the world anywhere, that was built in a couple of years, it doesn't work like that. The engineering that go into them are insane, they need to be, they are containing an extremely powerful force of nature after all. The most powerful force of nature known to mankind in fact.
The offshore farms I highlighted to you, are the two biggest in UK, not the only ones or only ones under construction. I never said they were the only ones. Come on mate, I am really now starting to think you do not pay attention to what we are doing in this country before assuming things.
We currently have 458 operational on shore windfarms in the UK. 36 operational much, much larger off shore windfarms in the UK. Consisting of over 10,000 individual wind turbines. 10,000! That does not include the single turbines around the country on the grid either.
By 2025, it is planned our offshore generating capacity will more be than double to what it was in 2020, we are currently on target to meet that schedule.
There have been particular windy days in the UK in the past 5 years, where for short periods of time, the majority of our demand for power in the UK has been met almost exclusively by wind power alone. That is extremely impressive, with the doubling of off shore generation capacity on the horizon, this will become more common place.
I am sorry, this country is doing absolutely loads in renewable energy, we are leading the world already.
Tidal schemes are a waste of time, the technology is not there yet, not compared to say wind, which is way more efficient and stable. We are doing alot of research and development into tidal, specifically in Scotland, it is not ready to be rolled out yet though.
We are also leading the world in Nuclear Fusion research, as we have been for 40 years, we are close to cracking that. When we do, it will be the holy grail of safe and clean energy. It has very little resemblance to the currently Nuclear technology we use.
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I'm saying that we should have invested back in the eighties/nineties, when we knew the next energy crisis was coming.
Windscale/Sellafield made nuclear power appear dirty, and storage of spent fuel expensive, so they gave up on future plans because the anti lobby was well established.
They beat the miners, the unions and the unwashed road lobby, they could have done the same with nuclear power, but no.
Prevarication as ever, no votes, kick the problem down the hill for the next PM.
Windscale/Sellafield made nuclear power appear dirty, and storage of spent fuel expensive, so they gave up on future plans because the anti lobby was well established.
They beat the miners, the unions and the unwashed road lobby, they could have done the same with nuclear power, but no.
Prevarication as ever, no votes, kick the problem down the hill for the next PM.