news & politics:discussion

[steviewevie]

thread from that FT chart guy...just like good old covid days...

 

[squirrelarmy]

Latest plan to tackle cost of living is the government giving energy companies £100 billion instead of raising the price cap 🤦‍♂️
 

Peoples bills will still go up though but slowly to enable energy companies to pay the money back over a number of years. 

[lost]

6 hours ago, steviewevie said:

thread from that FT chart guy...just like good old covid days...

According to my mate who who works for the NHS. A&E actually did really well during covid. People not going out Friday/Saturday night for a skin full and then beating the crap out of each other, fewer traffic accidents with no commuting etc..

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

Latest plan to tackle cost of living is the government giving energy companies £100 billion instead of raising the price cap 🤦‍♂️
 

Peoples bills will still go up though but slowly to enable energy companies to pay the money back over a number of years. 

Sounds like a pretty crap idea. They don’t have a clue. 

[Neil]

Just now, Ozanne said:

Sounds like a pretty crap idea. They don’t have a clue. 

they do, they keep the profits.

[lost]

1 hour ago, squirrelarmy said:

Latest plan to tackle cost of living is the government giving energy companies £100 billion instead of raising the price cap 🤦‍♂️
 

Peoples bills will still go up though but slowly to enable energy companies to pay the money back over a number of years. 

Think that's the same as Starmer's isn't it? Though he was looking at £60bn for 12 months to keep the price cap fixed, I guess this would be 18 - 20ish.

Edited August 23, 2022 by lost

[steviewevie]

15 minutes ago, lost said:

Think that's the same as Starmer's isn't it? Though he was looking at £60bn for 12 months to keep the price cap fixed, I guess this would be 18 - 20ish.

it's this...difference is paid for by a loan which govt guarantees...and will be paid back via bills in future...

Maybe this will happen? Would certainly go some way to alleviate some of the problems this winter.

Edited August 23, 2022 by steviewevie

[steviewevie]

In the end they'll have to do something bold like this, Truss won't admit it at moment as she has to win votes with tory members who probably think life should be hard for poor people etc., but when she's in power I'm sure that will change, at least I hope it does. I actually think they need to help those on lower incomes more, have a massive push to insulate homes better over the next few years, and just try and get people in general to reduce their energy use, because I think high gas prices might be here to stay, and not enough renewables to fill the gap yet.

Edited August 23, 2022 by steviewevie

[lost]

8 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

it's this...difference is paid for by a loan which govt guarantees...and will be paid back via bills in future

Maybe this will happen? Would certainly go some way to alleviate some of the problems this winter.

Ah. IF prices do actually fall back that seems to make a lot of sense. I guess the issue would be if we are living in a "new normal"

[steviewevie]

7 minutes ago, lost said:

Ah. IF prices do actually fall back that seems to make a lot of sense. I guess the issue would be if we are living in a "new normal"

yeah, big IF.

[steviewevie]

Barristers of the world unite.

 

[squirrelarmy]

6 minutes ago, lost said:

Ah. IF prices do actually fall back that seems to make a lot of sense. I guess the issue would be if we are living in a "new normal"

Will the prices fall while we have a Tory government though?

I very much doubt it

[steviewevie]

4 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

Will the prices fall while we have a Tory government though?

I very much doubt it

I think this is more to do with geopolitics. Cheap gas/oil from Russia might be over (same as cheap other stuff from China might be over soon too). The world is changing.

[lost]

6 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

Will the prices fall while we have a Tory government though?

I very much doubt it

I don't see why not. Oil prices actually turned negative in lockdown and I think we had a Tory government then. I remember filling up for less than a £1 a litre.

There is actually some debate if the Saudis' are capable of picking up the slack from Russia and the reason they are not doing it is due to Biden's comments over the whole bone saw thing.

Edited August 23, 2022 by lost

[squirrelarmy]

Oil prices will fall but will our bills?

[lost]

4 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

Oil prices will fall but will our bills?

They fell about 10% after the 2008 peak. I guess it depends how much this winter scares the government and so how much they leave built in for new power stations etc..

Edited August 23, 2022 by lost

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

it's this...difference is paid for by a loan which govt guarantees...and will be paid back via bills in future...

Maybe this will happen? Would certainly go some way to alleviate some of the problems this winter.

The most important thing is to protect the energy firms. As long as they will be ok it’ll be fine.

The energy firms are rich enough to absorb the hit. Tax their profits and keep the cap where it is. 

[steviewevie]

one positive is this Russia thing will hopefully speed up the use of renewables here and abroad.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

one positive is this Russia thing will hopefully speed up the use of renewables here and abroad.

Will BP be ok if we move to renewables?

[lost]

5 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

one positive is this Russia thing will hopefully speed up the use of renewables here and abroad.

Yep which is why prices may not drop, guardian saying 1 new nuclear plant is around £22bn over a life time.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/25/hinkley-point-nuclear-plant-to-run-29m-over-budget

Edited August 23, 2022 by lost

[steviewevie]

6 minutes ago, lost said:

Yep which is why prices may not drop, guardian saying 1 new nuclear plant is around £22bn over a life time.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/25/hinkley-point-nuclear-plant-to-run-29m-over-budget

renewables, not nuclear.

(and yeah, prices may be high for a while, we need better insulation etc)

[Guest]

This is basically it with this idea. It’s woeful at best. 

[lost]

1 minute ago, steviewevie said:

renewables, not nuclear.

As things currently stand the only "always on" base current option that is carbon free is nuclear. There is a suggestion it maybe doable in the future with larger windmills in the north sea/gulf stream. 

[steviewevie]

Just now, lost said:

As things currently stand the only "always on" base current option that is carbon free is nuclear. There is a suggestion it maybe doable in the future with larger windmills in the north sea/gulf stream. 

yes, just being pedantic...nuclear is low carbon, but it is not renewable. We need proper investment in renewables....everywhere.

[steviewevie]

35 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

This is basically it with this idea. It’s woeful at best. 

Torsten thinks it's shit too.