Do you want to discuss boring politics? (226 Viewers)

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Life’s hard enough without worrying about a load of ifs, buts and maybes that I’ve currently got no control over
I’m chasing postal ballot returns for people who have to vote this way for strike action when nobody else is forced to do a postal vote. Got to make sure we hit a 50% threshold that is also part of the law on this.

You’re right we can’t control what laws the government passes but they affect everyone and are worth getting frustrated by if they have a detrimental effect on us.
 

Sky Blue Pete

Well-Known Member
I’m chasing postal ballot returns for people who have to vote this way for strike action when nobody else is forced to do a postal vote. Got to make sure we hit a 50% threshold that is also part of the law on this.

You’re right we can’t control what laws the government passes but they affect everyone and are worth getting frustrated by if they have a detrimental effect on us.
We managed about 46-47% in ours. Trying again later this month
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Yes but not to the level they were before:


Yeah, that’s the gas price side of things is complex…and volatile. As the article says we need sustained low wholesale prices to start helping us as consumers

Oil on the other hand is more stable and the petrol stations have taken the piss for far too long. I said a while back the government should’ve stepped in. Looking at some of the inflated prices I get the impression BP and Shell are profiteering to make up for the windfall tax they might have to pay elsewhere.

‘The levy applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas, but not from other activities such as refining oil and selling petrol and diesel on forecourts’

This is where the government should’ve been far cuter than just using the blunt instrument of a windfall tax (on its own) and pressured shell and BP to get petrol and diesel prices down as soon as oil prices dropped, which would in turn, helped reduce inflation as other petrol stations/suppliers would’ve had to follow suit.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Yeah, that’s the gas price side of things is complex…and volatile. As the article says we need sustained low wholesale prices to start helping us as consumers

Oil on the other hand is more stable and the petrol stations have taken the piss for far too long. I said a while back the government should’ve stepped in. Looking at some of the inflated prices I get the impression BP and Shell are profiteering to make up for the windfall tax they might have to pay elsewhere.

‘The levy applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas, but not from other activities such as refining oil and selling petrol and diesel on forecourts’

This is where the government should’ve been far cuter than just using the blunt instrument of a windfall tax (on its own) and pressured shell and BP to get petrol and diesel prices down as soon as oil prices dropped, which would in turn, helped reduce inflation as other petrol stations/suppliers would’ve had to follow suit.

The government will be stepping in in a few months when they put fuel duty up. They're not bothered about any hardship endured by the ordinary working man.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
The government will be stepping in in a few months when they put fuel duty up. They're not bothered about any hardship endured by the ordinary working man.

I know that’s the plan but I just can’t see how they’ll be able to do that unless prices reduce at the pump first. I wouldnt be surprised if it was postponed but we’ll see
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
I know that’s the plan but I just can’t see how they’ll be able to do that unless prices reduce at the pump first. I wouldnt be surprised if it was postponed but we’ll see
They could always scrap it and issue another windfall tax on the companies profiteering from it instead.
 
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shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Shocked that the BLM fundraiser from London is in court for fraud.

Accused of not passing money on from go fund me.

Never contribute to a GFM unless you know the people personally, absolute scammers dream that website.

Also, don’t mean to be a dick, but surely you wear sunglasses underneath your niqab not over the top? Won’t they fall off if they’re not on your ears?

1672820652988.jpeg
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
They could always scrap it and issue another welfare tax on the companies profiteering from it instead.

Thats what I’m kind of suggesting. I can’t see that they can go ahead with the proposed increase in fuel duty without forecourt prices reducing. They should put pressure on BP and Shell to reduce profit per litre back to pre end of pandemic with the threat of another windfall tax. If they reduce prices that will have far wider benefits than another windfall tax. If they don’t fall in line then another windfall tax it is inc supermarkets etc
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Thats what I’m kind of suggesting. I can’t see that they can go ahead with the proposed increase in fuel duty without forecourt prices reducing. They should put pressure on BP and Shell to reduce profit per litre back to pre end of pandemic with the threat of another windfall tax. If they reduce prices that will have far wider benefits than another windfall tax. If they don’t fall in line then another windfall tax it is inc supermarkets etc

The problem is that the slight upturn later in the year predicted by the OBS is based on that as a significant driver.
We get quarterly updates regarding the economic outlook from our CEO and they're normally pretty accurate and the last one predicted improvement in the 2nd half of the year but I think he's got it wrong this time, hopefully I'm wrong, as I say, they normally accurate
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
Bit of good news. 87% electricity produced from zero carbon sources on a day recently…albeit a windy one !

Trouble is the price cap isn’t fit for purpose as it’s based on the most expensive form of generation (gas) not the cheapest (renewables) so it isn’t going to bring down energy prices anytime soon. Makes you wonder why people are so anti renewables and pro fossil fuel though. There literally isn’t a logical reason to not phase out fossil fuel generation in favour of renewables, even if you’re a climate change denier.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Trouble is the price cap isn’t fit for purpose as it’s based on the most expensive form of generation (gas) not the cheapest (renewables) so it isn’t going to bring down energy prices anytime soon. Makes you wonder why people are so anti renewables and pro fossil fuel though. There literally isn’t a logical reason to not phase out fossil fuel generation in favour of renewables, even if you’re a climate change denier.

It’s not the price cap so much as how we (and the presume other countries) calculate the cost of electricity. Something like the highest price of generation as you indicate. This is crazy and needs amending. Pretty sure old Kwasi was looking into this before he tried to tank the economy
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
It’s not the price cap so much as how we (and the presume other countries) calculate the cost of electricity. Something like the highest price of generation as you indicate. This is crazy and needs amending. Pretty sure old Kwasi was looking into this before he tried to tank the economy
Read something the other week that on average European countries are paying 45% more for electricity than prior to the war in Ukraine and everything that’s gone with that. Italy was the highest at around 75%, France was the lowest at around 5%. We’re apparently around 250%. Based on that other countries are clearly doing something different to us and they were supposed to be more vulnerable than us (France aside) as we’re largely leading the way in wind (offshore especially) and were less reliant on imports from Russia. Something doesn’t add up on all this. Unless you’re in the fossil fuel business or have shares in a fossil fuel business.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
Something doesn’t add up on all this
this is the issue really, what we're told seems to change. When prices here shot up more than elsewhere we were told it was because we had little gas storage and were therefore a change in price impacted us more than other countries

now the price has gone down we're being told that isn't being passed on to the consumer as the gas we use was purchased at the higher price
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Read something the other week that on average European countries are paying 45% more for electricity than prior to the war in Ukraine and everything that’s gone with that. Italy was the highest at around 75%, France was the lowest at around 5%. We’re apparently around 250%. Based on that other countries are clearly doing something different to us and they were supposed to be more vulnerable than us (France aside) as we’re largely leading the way in wind (offshore especially) and were less reliant on imports from Russia. Something doesn’t add up on all this. Unless you’re in the fossil fuel business or have shares in a fossil fuel business.

I’ve not seen the percentage increases elsewhere but France is predominantly reliant on nuclear (which they own) and Germany use a lot of dirty coal. unfortunately our drive towards gas has maybe fucked us as we rely on this more than others. When the winds not blowing we also use gas to produce a lot of our electricity I think. Basically I think we’ve been left more exposed to the external markets.

This weird calculation of electricity cost is definitely not helping though
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Actually agree we should improve maths education and it should be to 18 like most countries. However like so much Tory policy in recent years this is nothing more than a headline with no substance behind it, no plan, no funding.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Actually agree we should improve maths education and it should be to 18 like most countries. However like so much Tory policy in recent years this is nothing more than a headline with no substance behind it, no plan, no funding.

Just like slashing inflation. They've been saying for months it's down to global factors, but now they're going to half it.

It's just vacuous bollocks.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
Just like slashing inflation. They've been saying for months it's down to global factors, but now they're going to half it.

It's just vacuous bollocks.
bit of a coincide they announce they're going to halve it shortly after forecasts show its expected to fall by half this year
 

wingy

Well-Known Member
Actually agree we should improve maths education and it should be to 18 like most countries. However like so much Tory policy in recent years this is nothing more than a headline with no substance behind it, no plan, no funding.
Just a load of PR with all media playing along , for a bloke who hasn't been elected ,who's going to steal around £4-5K from workers/families over the next four years after them already taking something equivalent this year and part of last.
With the prospect of working into your seventies.
How blind and passive are folk.
 

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