Best Of

As I predicted, mandatory WFH here we come.

If we're really lucky we might even get a de facto lockdown

Huge energy price rises pile pressure on British companies

Warning of businesses going under as cost of gas set to rise by as much as 80 per cent, while electricity bills to increase by up to 30 per cent

Businesses across the UK are facing “eye-watering” rises in their energy bills because of the conflict in the Middle East, analysis for The Times suggests.

Unlike households, companies are not insulated from volatility in gas and electricity prices, which have almost doubled since the Iran war began.

The problem is particularly acute for the thousands of companies that fix their annual price tariff at the start of the financial year in April and will face an immediate sharp rise in their bills.

Analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight found that as a result of the conflict, business users’ electricity bills would rise by up to 30 per cent, while the cost of gas could go up by as much as 80 per cent. This would mean that a business such as a larger retail and leisure site, on an average 12-month electricity contract, would have an annual bill of £578,000 — £95,000 more than early last month.

For gas, bills have risen by £376,000, reaching just over £1.02 million a year, an increase of nearly 60 per cent, based on the latest wholesale prices.

On Tuesday Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, warned that Europe risked fuel shortages as soon as next month. At an industry conference in Houston, Texas, he said the global oil and gas supply squeeze had already forced parts of Asia to cut energy consumption and that the “ripple effect” threatened to spread west within days.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/huge-energy-price-rises-pile-pressure-on-british-companies-6w9m0j0xk

Forget the price and the bills that take up most of that story and focus on the end: shortages. If there is no petrol, the price doesn't matter.

The really bad news, as we saw after SMO inflation, is an upsurge in calls by misguided but influential pundits for tightening the money supply and higher interest rates to curb inflation. Idiots!

As I predicted, mandatory WFH here we come.

If we're really lucky we might even get a de facto lockdown

Huge energy price rises pile pressure on British companies

Warning of businesses going under as cost of gas set to rise by as much as 80 per cent, while electricity bills to increase by up to 30 per cent

Businesses across the UK are facing “eye-watering” rises in their energy bills because of the conflict in the Middle East, analysis for The Times suggests.

Unlike households, companies are not insulated from volatility in gas and electricity prices, which have almost doubled since the Iran war began.

The problem is particularly acute for the thousands of companies that fix their annual price tariff at the start of the financial year in April and will face an immediate sharp rise in their bills.

Analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight found that as a result of the conflict, business users’ electricity bills would rise by up to 30 per cent, while the cost of gas could go up by as much as 80 per cent. This would mean that a business such as a larger retail and leisure site, on an average 12-month electricity contract, would have an annual bill of £578,000 — £95,000 more than early last month.

For gas, bills have risen by £376,000, reaching just over £1.02 million a year, an increase of nearly 60 per cent, based on the latest wholesale prices.

On Tuesday Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, warned that Europe risked fuel shortages as soon as next month. At an industry conference in Houston, Texas, he said the global oil and gas supply squeeze had already forced parts of Asia to cut energy consumption and that the “ripple effect” threatened to spread west within days.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/huge-energy-price-rises-pile-pressure-on-british-companies-6w9m0j0xk

People losing their jobs due to this need to remember Reform support Trump.

As I predicted, mandatory WFH here we come.

If we're really lucky we might even get a de facto lockdown

Huge energy price rises pile pressure on British companies

Warning of businesses going under as cost of gas set to rise by as much as 80 per cent, while electricity bills to increase by up to 30 per cent

Businesses across the UK are facing “eye-watering” rises in their energy bills because of the conflict in the Middle East, analysis for The Times suggests.

Unlike households, companies are not insulated from volatility in gas and electricity prices, which have almost doubled since the Iran war began.

The problem is particularly acute for the thousands of companies that fix their annual price tariff at the start of the financial year in April and will face an immediate sharp rise in their bills.

Analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight found that as a result of the conflict, business users’ electricity bills would rise by up to 30 per cent, while the cost of gas could go up by as much as 80 per cent. This would mean that a business such as a larger retail and leisure site, on an average 12-month electricity contract, would have an annual bill of £578,000 — £95,000 more than early last month.

For gas, bills have risen by £376,000, reaching just over £1.02 million a year, an increase of nearly 60 per cent, based on the latest wholesale prices.

On Tuesday Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, warned that Europe risked fuel shortages as soon as next month. At an industry conference in Houston, Texas, he said the global oil and gas supply squeeze had already forced parts of Asia to cut energy consumption and that the “ripple effect” threatened to spread west within days.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/huge-energy-price-rises-pile-pressure-on-british-companies-6w9m0j0xk

A grim prognosis from Professor Azeem Ibrahim:

https://x.com/AzeemIbrahim/status/2035361179879547244

Britain is now in accelerated decline - gradual for decades, now at risk of sudden collapse.

My stark verdict: unchecked, UK heading for relative poverty - a deindustrialised, sectarian, indebted island with first-rate pretensions & third-rate power.

Wow! And it was all going so well until the Conservatives left office 20 months ago.

The Tories are more to blame for our current state than Labour. They've had more time in office, these last three decades, and they are meant to be the smart capitalists who make amends for mad socialism. I hope the Conservatives DIE

Osborne was pure politics. He simply viewed elections as a game to maximise votes to get in. The only thing I think he genuinely seemed to believe in was lowering Corporation Tax, and avoiding urban social embarrassment for being a Conservative.

Cameron should have challenged him on it. But I think he was more interested in being chairman of the board, rather than CEO.

This really is just fantasy. The reality is that the UK economy appeared to be built on the profits of financial services for more than a decade after big bang. These profits proved to be illusory after 2008 resulting in a structural deficit similar to that of a major war. Our entire system was bankrupt and the largesse of the state completely unaffordable.

This is what Osborne had to deal with and it was extremely difficult involving many short term decisions with negative long term consequences simply because there was no choice. By 2019 the worst was over and the finances were back in some sort of order, albeit with much higher debt than before. And then came Covid. And then Ukraine. And now Iran.
Without the turbo boost of financial services and with the rebalancing required our economy has struggled to generate growth since 2008. As the economy with the largest proportion of GDP being generated from FS we were hit harder than almost anyone else. We still have not recovered. We have still not found an alternative way to pay our bills. There are no simple solutions for this government, the last government or the next government. The best we can do is what Osborne did and tiptoe back from the brink but one crisis after another is testing our resilience to destruction.

I agree difficult choices were needed and the deficit had to be dealt with, I didn't agree with the way he did it - featherbedding pensioners, stiffing students and cutting defence and justice to the bone.

And also cutting local government in a way that the blame was laid at local councillors...