The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
Dunno. You kind of wonder how the Her Majesty made it from Windsor to Balmoral in the first place if she is so immobile. Only a cynic would suggest this is a wheeze to give Scotland a vital role in forming a new UK-wide government.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Actually probably the more pertinent thing about the Cornwall prediction is that for the whole of 2023 it is now predicting that bills will be around £500 per month for an average household…
There is no way in earth that the Truss government won’t make a huge intervention on energy bills. It has to. The issue is that it will mess up all her other plans and put her under major pressure from Day One to explain how it will all be paid for alongside the tax cuts she is promising. She has to keep the Tory right - ie, the majority of the party - on board. But the lower public spending it will inevitably lead to will be very noticeable, very quickly. Ambulance services anyone?
Labour’s plan is flawed, but it is the quickest and easiest way to stop the pain for those on the lowest incomes and, crucially, the just about managing. Truss can’t do what Labour has proposed, but what she does put forward has to have the same effect for anyone in the standard tax bracket, at least.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Good luck, Liz.
I disagree. She has demonstrated that she is ideologically welded to the notion that handouts to the workshy are not the answer and has said so at every opportunity including last night.
I agree that the government will do *something*. Because the news stories of pensioners freezing to death in their homes will force their hand. But it will be little, late, and reluctant.
There is no way in earth that the Truss government won’t make a huge intervention on energy bills. It has to. The issue is that it will mess up all her other plans and put her under major pressure from Day One to explain how it will all be paid for alongside the tax cuts she is promising. She has to keep the Tory right - ie, the majority of the party - on board. But the lower public spending it will inevitably lead to will be very noticeable, very quickly. Ambulance services anyone?
Labour’s plan is flawed, but it is the quickest and easiest way to stop the pain for those on the lowest incomes and, crucially, the just about managing. Truss can’t do what Labour has proposed, but what she does put forward has to have the same effect for anyone in the standard tax bracket, at least.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Good luck, Liz.
It's all part of a cunning Tory plan to stop people wanting to work from home!
Agree Truss will have to make a huge intervention, but she will need something to distract attention. My (not very original) prediction -> she will go for a big "stop the green crap" thing... get rid of any and all subsidies for green, and pick a fight on that.
No one is going to care how any of this is paid for - country is at war/pandemic/crisis etc. And we are coming up to an election, so I wouldn't expect major public service cuts *yet*. Diversity officers should probably rebrand though.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
Dunno. You kind of wonder how the Her Majesty made it from Windsor to Balmoral in the first place if she is so immobile. Only a cynic would suggest this is a wheeze to give Scotland a vital role in forming a new UK-wide government.
It will be because she's not allowed to fly anymore, I reckon.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Blimey Big G I am no raging monarchist but she is in her nineties and she is the Queen. She can be wherever she wants and gets to determine protocol as she wishes.
According to someone who knows someone who knows someone she has bone cancer so is pretty immobile.
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
Seriously?
You are underestimating how much people will look at their gas bills and demand that something must be done.
In the next week and a half?
In the next few weeks.
Companies have the green light to start increasing the direct debit costs with immediate effect.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
It has been noted that Liz Truss's pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP has been postponed to by the end of the decade (or a decade). Meanwhile Rishi is talking about expanding the definition of defence spending to include defence against cyberattacks and Chinese spies in industry and academia among other things.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
What is the annual defence budget? With all these billions flying around I bet it will seem smaller than it might once have done.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Given the armed forces are supposed to protect our economic interests, have we really messed up on Ukraine?
This was always going to happen if they were invaded. We couldn't just sit there and let it happen.
Why didn't we fly in lots of "training missions" to act as a poison pill in the run up to the invasion? I reckon that could have just about put Putin off.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
It has been noted that Liz Truss's pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP has been postponed to by the end of the decade (or a decade). Meanwhile Rishi is talking about expanding the definition of defence spending to include defence against cyberattacks and Chinese spies in industry and academia among other things.
Probably expand the classification to include energy subsidy soon!
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
I assume very senior ministers are doing the media round this morning reassuring people that they understand the situation and are doing everything they can to announce an immediate relief package?
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Of course she should not fly up there nor Boris
Why not? Deeside is as just a part of the UK as Westminster.
Robert Halfon generally talks sense and this is the case here. There are still some people in the Conservatives who understand the needs and concerns of ordinary people and small business. Unfortunately this seems entirely absent at the top level of the Government.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Looking forward to Trussy’s tartan themed outfit for the trip.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
Given what we're experiencing is the fruits of Russian blackmail suggests that would not be an optimal policy response.
And the history of blackmail suggests that submitting to it would not be the optimal response, either.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
If any Tory said something along the lines of "wear more layers" you would say it's grotesque.
They all need to be saying it. The Tories don't give a Rat Fuck about you or me. That you are still up their sphincter is your personal lifestyle choice. Its getting less crowded up there though, isn't it?
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Your last sentence says more about your ante government rhetoric than actually what the chancellor has said this morning
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
He is working jointly with Kwarteng on the policy announcements for Truss to make on becoming PM
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
It has been noted that Liz Truss's pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP has been postponed to by the end of the decade (or a decade). Meanwhile Rishi is talking about expanding the definition of defence spending to include defence against cyberattacks and Chinese spies in industry and academia among other things.
In fairness that's not a bad idea. There are more cyberattacks than there are foreign invasions of this country and they damage they do is immense.
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
Absolutely correct in everything you say.
People like you and I have been warning about this for weeks and the lack of any preparation by the govt as well as the impact on hospitality.
We need to look at anyway we can reduce demand and protect consumers. It’s not happening though. This govt is a shitshow.
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
Also, I think the supposition was that Holyrood is "thriving on conflict and discontent" and therefore was somehow provoking or at least enjoying the Auld Reekie mess? It doesn't make Scotland look good during the festival, and strikes have been announced in a slew of councils of every party administration.
There is a chain of cash. Westminster to Holyrood to Councils. I know the Edinburgh council are (rightly) blaming Holyrood for cutting their budget, but its as easy for Holyrood (rightly) to point down the A1 at the wider mess.
My current plan is to attempt not to use the heating at all this winter and to be in the office as much as possible. 🤷♂️
Spare a thought for the small businesses that don't even have the minimal temporary help of a price cap to fall back on. What are you going to do if your employer adopts the same approach and decides to minimise its heating bills by requiring many employees to work at home and not in the office as much as possible?
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
All part of the Union. It is easy enough for Truss to fly up there. I am sure there will be room for her Instagram assistant.
Of course she should not fly up there nor Boris
Why not?
Because they should walk every inch of it to allow the PB government of Mr Eagles to take power in the meanwhile.
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Blimey Big G I am no raging monarchist but she is in her nineties and she is the Queen. She can be wherever she wants and gets to determine protocol as she wishes.
According to someone who knows someone who knows someone she has bone cancer so is pretty immobile.
Very disappointed in your post tbh.
I think osteoporosis of the spine with crush fractures. She has become noticeably shorter and more hunched. Really quite painful to travel.
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
Also, I think the supposition was that Holyrood is "thriving on conflict and discontent" and therefore was somehow provoking or at least enjoying the Auld Reekie mess? It doesn't make Scotland look good during the festival, and strikes have been announced in a slew of councils of every party administration.
There is a chain of cash. Westminster to Holyrood to Councils. I know the Edinburgh council are (rightly) blaming Holyrood for cutting their budget, but its as easy for Holyrood (rightly) to point down the A1 at the wider mess.
England managed a decent increase in council worker wages, hence no strikes.
This is despite the extra £2,000 per head we get here in Scotland.
Given the armed forces are supposed to protect our economic interests, have we really messed up on Ukraine?
This was always going to happen if they were invaded. We couldn't just sit there and let it happen.
Why didn't we fly in lots of "training missions" to act as a poison pill in the run up to the invasion? I reckon that could have just about put Putin off.
It comes back to 2014 and the failure to stand by the security commitments we gave Ukraine when they gave up their nuclear weapons.
Learning from that mistake is important as it enables us to see that actions like freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea are not dangerous provocation, but am important signal to China we're prepared to defend international law, and thus deter them from going further.
The tricky question is not so much: Will there be a massive govt intervention - of course there will be.
But what about the long term effects of public finances, which are already in a calamitous state.
As always the problems of how to distribute vast amounts of free money is completely detached (the BBC is only one but an egregious example) from the questions of who shall pay for it and how the books shall be balanced.
It is not difficult to produce photos of starving widows and orphans, living on boiled gravel and keeping warm by rubbing two sticks together to set fire to the staircase. Harder to produce a balanced account of the whole picture.
Robert Halfon generally talks sense and this is the case here. There are still some people in the Conservatives who understand the needs and concerns of ordinary people and small business. Unfortunately this seems entirely absent at the top level of the Government.
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
If any Tory said something along the lines of "wear more layers" you would say it's grotesque.
They all need to be saying it. The Tories don't give a Rat Fuck about you or me. That you are still up their sphincter is your personal lifestyle choice. Its getting less crowded up there though, isn't it?
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Your last sentence says more about your ante government rhetoric than actually what the chancellor has said this morning
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
He is working jointly with Kwarteng on the policy announcements for Truss to make on becoming PM
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
Sounds like Truss is standing on a platform of "an undertaking of Great Advantage but no one to know what it is".
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
If any Tory said something along the lines of "wear more layers" you would say it's grotesque.
They all need to be saying it. The Tories don't give a Rat Fuck about you or me. That you are still up their sphincter is your personal lifestyle choice. Its getting less crowded up there though, isn't it?
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Your last sentence says more about your ante government rhetoric than actually what the chancellor has said this morning
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
He is working jointly with Kwarteng on the policy announcements for Truss to make on becoming PM
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
So I said - which you claimed was "twisting words" that: "the Chancellor says no more bungs" - that's agreed is it not? As you just said, "no new support" "we should all be appreciatve" - he literally stated the amounts already given.
So what we have here is your faith that the Tory Party is decent, and my world-weary cynicism that it is not. You are expressing hope for decisive action and as the world needs hope I appreciate that. But they needed to be acting now. Before now. Not saying "no more bungs" last night.
That is reality. For all that the outgoing team claim to be working on solutions, the incoming team are fixed on tax cuts for the reasonably off which need to be rushed through. That is their priority. If some pensioners freeze to death this winter I believe the phrase from Truss supporters is "people die so what"
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
I base what she will do as PM on what she says she will do as PM.
What are you basing "it" on? And what is "it" anyway? What specifically do you think good-old Liz should do on 6th September to save the day keep nasty old Starmer out of power?
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
Also, I think the supposition was that Holyrood is "thriving on conflict and discontent" and therefore was somehow provoking or at least enjoying the Auld Reekie mess? It doesn't make Scotland look good during the festival, and strikes have been announced in a slew of councils of every party administration.
There is a chain of cash. Westminster to Holyrood to Councils. I know the Edinburgh council are (rightly) blaming Holyrood for cutting their budget, but its as easy for Holyrood (rightly) to point down the A1 at the wider mess.
Holyrood has tax-raising powers these days. They could use them.
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
That's not what I said.
Holyrood has cynically cut funding to local government, because they can politically blame the local councils (and Westminster for a bonus in their case), same as central government in London.
In general the SNP have an interest in showing that the current constitutional settlement doesn't work, rather than finding ways to make it a success. They're pretty confident that people happy with the status quo won't vote to upset the apple cart and vote for independence.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
Get the train up, like us ordinary people. Only 4 hours 20 to Edinburgh.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
One would hope that what she says she’ll do and what she then does are the same, or are you presuming that Truss is a massive liar?
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
There's undoubtedly a general sense that the Government is on holiday at a time of crisis, and people are pretty contemptuous about that, hence the recent polls. Up to a point, that will benefit Truss, since unless she actually does nothing (unthinkable) then whatever she does in mid-September will look positively dynamic by contrast. "At last we've got a proper PM again!" I give that a couple of weeks before the Labour conference is full of speakers pointing out the flaws in whatever she's done, and then it'll be up to Truss to repair the damage the follo0wing week. At that point, we will have a pretty clear picture of how things are going politically.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
If any Tory said something along the lines of "wear more layers" you would say it's grotesque.
They all need to be saying it. The Tories don't give a Rat Fuck about you or me. That you are still up their sphincter is your personal lifestyle choice. Its getting less crowded up there though, isn't it?
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Your last sentence says more about your ante government rhetoric than actually what the chancellor has said this morning
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
He is working jointly with Kwarteng on the policy announcements for Truss to make on becoming PM
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
So I said - which you claimed was "twisting words" that: "the Chancellor says no more bungs" - that's agreed is it not? As you just said, "no new support" "we should all be appreciatve" - he literally stated the amounts already given.
So what we have here is your faith that the Tory Party is decent, and my world-weary cynicism that it is not. You are expressing hope for decisive action and as the world needs hope I appreciate that. But they needed to be acting now. Before now. Not saying "no more bungs" last night.
That is reality. For all that the outgoing team claim to be working on solutions, the incoming team are fixed on tax cuts for the reasonably off which need to be rushed through. That is their priority. If some pensioners freeze to death this winter I believe the phrase from Truss supporters is "people die so what"
We are not going to agree other than the election contest has shamed the conservative party and they may well pay a high price at the ballot box
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
One would hope that what she says she’ll do and what she then does are the same, or are you presuming that Truss is a massive liar?
Until she is PM, she cannot speak as PM. What she says now might indicate her priorities but she’s not yet running the government.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
The current PM and chancellor could announce something today
Of course if Tory members alone had picked the next Tory leader and PM the polling was clear they would have chosen Kemi Badenoch not Liz Truss. So Truss was not even the first choice of Tory members either. They just likely preferred her over Sunak given that was the choice of final 2 Tory MPs gave them.
However she will get a year to prove herself before Tory MPs decide whether or not to try anything
BBC: As Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News.
Experts say the gas would previously have been exported to Germany.
They say the plant near the border with Finland, is burning an estimated $10m (£8.4m) worth of gas every day.
Scientists are concerned about the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate the melting of Arctic ice.
The analysis by Rystad Energy indicates that around 4.34 million cubic metres of gas are being burned by the flare every day.
It is coming from a new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, north-west of St Petersburg. The first signs that something was awry came from Finnish citizens over the nearby border who spotted a large flame on the horizon earlier this summer.
Portovaya is located close to a compressor station at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline which carries gas under the sea to Germany.
Supplies through the pipeline have been curtailed since mid-July, with the Russians blaming technical issues for the restriction. Germany says it was purely a political move following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
One would hope that what she says she’ll do and what she then does are the same, or are you presuming that Truss is a massive liar?
Until she is PM, she cannot speak as PM. What she says now might indicate her priorities but she’s not yet running the government.
“might indicate her priorities”?!!? She is standing for the position of PM and explicitly saying what she will do as PM.
"At the moment, the price of electricity is set by the last kilowatt needed to balance the grid, currently the cost of gas by an obscene margin. The fossil tail (44pc of total power last year) is wagging the clean dog (56pc). The gains of cheaper renewables are not being passed on."
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
The current PM and chancellor could announce something today
Britain starts to turn out the lights: Restaurants, pubs, butchers, cafes and shops are among small businesses forced to close as soaring energy bills begin to bite More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5% https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
For all of the talk about lockdown on here yesterday, the correct topic should have been shutdown. As in the shutdown of Britain's hospitality industry, of shops opening reduced hours, of people stopping socialising because there isn't any money left. Of trains and courts and bin collections and schools shut because everyone is on strike.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
I said in a thread the other day that I think, without significant intervention, this winter is going to look a lot like a de facto lockdown with many public buildings, shops and most hospitality businesses closed due to spiralling energy costs.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
Abroad we have governments who understand the twin threats: a lack of power, and the insane price of the power they have. So they have already instigated measures to reduce power consumption, and many have put measures in place to stop bills going through the roof.
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
If any Tory said something along the lines of "wear more layers" you would say it's grotesque.
They all need to be saying it. The Tories don't give a Rat Fuck about you or me. That you are still up their sphincter is your personal lifestyle choice. Its getting less crowded up there though, isn't it?
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Your last sentence says more about your ante government rhetoric than actually what the chancellor has said this morning
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
He is working jointly with Kwarteng on the policy announcements for Truss to make on becoming PM
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
So I said - which you claimed was "twisting words" that: "the Chancellor says no more bungs" - that's agreed is it not? As you just said, "no new support" "we should all be appreciatve" - he literally stated the amounts already given.
So what we have here is your faith that the Tory Party is decent, and my world-weary cynicism that it is not. You are expressing hope for decisive action and as the world needs hope I appreciate that. But they needed to be acting now. Before now. Not saying "no more bungs" last night.
That is reality. For all that the outgoing team claim to be working on solutions, the incoming team are fixed on tax cuts for the reasonably off which need to be rushed through. That is their priority. If some pensioners freeze to death this winter I believe the phrase from Truss supporters is "people die so what"
We are not going to agree other than the election contest has shamed the conservative party and they may well pay a high price at the ballot box
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
It is an appalling mess. How did the '22 not consider real world events before setting the timetable? Even looking at when Ofgem unveils the cap would have made them think "hang on, we can't just let people float in the wind".
I am trying to think what Truss will be forced into. We know her views on handouts and on the merits of British workers and the priority of tax cuts and green crap. Whatever she is forced into doing has to fit her worldview, so I would be astonished to see actual support for the most vulnerable - these are the very handouts / bungs she is so stridently against.
Politicians always try and spin their actions to fit what they say, so I can see some universal proposal for everyone whether they need it or not. Likely aimed at the companies (worthy) rather than consumers (workshy), and lets guess that it will be as a government-backed loan which consumers will pay back with interest over the years to come.
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
The current PM and chancellor could announce something today
Of course they could not
Nonsense. They could have agreed a package withe two candidates.
And so begins the week and a half that will destroy the Truss government before it starts. This morning Ofgem announce this winter's cap is triple last years, and implores Truss to intervene, as will will shoot up again in January.
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
You’re committing the classic error of overestimating how much interest the average person takes in politics.
You pray they won't notice? I suppose that even the word hopeless has hope in it...
You think the next week and a half will destroy the Truss government, but the majority of people don't know there's going to be a Truss government...
Possibly the most ridiculous set of comments on PB this week.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter. And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
You think opinion of Truss’s government will be determined by what she says before she becomes PM rather than what she does as PM?
I think the government has already failed by sitting on its hands for the last couple of months. She will quite fairly cop the blame if she's PM.
You should not be surprised, as you're the one arguing the public doesn't pay attention to details.
"At the moment, the price of electricity is set by the last kilowatt needed to balance the grid, currently the cost of gas by an obscene margin. The fossil tail (44pc of total power last year) is wagging the clean dog (56pc). The gains of cheaper renewables are not being passed on."
Free market economics has a lot to answer for in the energy arena: it drove Europe to a potentially fatal reliance on Russia, it screwed up distribution in favour of the rich in the UK, and now it's screwing the whole country through stratospheric energy prices.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Blimey Big G I am no raging monarchist but she is in her nineties and she is the Queen. She can be wherever she wants and gets to determine protocol as she wishes.
According to someone who knows someone who knows someone she has bone cancer so is pretty immobile.
Very disappointed in your post tbh.
Yes, since we've got this stupid tradition of keeping the Head of State in office till they die, we need to accommodate their needs as they decline, not torture them as well by insisting they do things that put them in agony - that's behaviour which would make Stone Age tribesmen uneasy.
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
The current PM and chancellor could announce something today
Of course they could not
Don't be ridiculous Big_G. As of today Johnson and Zahawi are PM and CoE. They should act.
If Truss wants to change things in September she can.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
Time for Brenda to abdicate, surely? Appointing a new PM is about the one vital function the monarch still has. If she can only barely do that then it’s time for Ol’ Jug-Ears to take over.
I simply do not accept that she cannot be in Windsor a week on Monday and frankly is is not acceptable to remain in Scotland
Uncharacteristically ungenerous, BigG.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
I do not mean to be unkind but Boris and Truss flying to Scotland just seems bizarre in the days of climate change
Get the train up, like us ordinary people. Only 4 hours 20 to Edinburgh.
Especially now we know that the environmental damage for flying is a multiple worse than we believed (due to the formation of contrails which actually dominate the calculated carbon cost of the fuel https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58769351). I'm pleased to see that this story has reached a wider media in the last few months I did some work over a year ago with the company that has been leading on mitigating strategies for this commercially, so it has been around a while before anyone outside of the aviation industry started to pay attention.
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
No surprise the Queen can't be bothered to interrupt her holiday at Balmoral to travel all the way down to London to appoint a new PM not even most Tory MPs want let alone the public and who will be the Tories 4th PM in 12 years. Plus of course in her youth Truss wanted to abolish her, so the Queen’s subtle way of reminding her of her place. The Queen has appointed lots of PMs in her reign and is not going to drop everything for Liz Truss who has not even yet won a general election
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
No surprise the Queen can't be bothered to interrupt her holiday at Balmoral to travel all the way down to Balmoral to appoint a new PM not even most Tory MPs want let alone the public and who will be the Tories 4th PM in 12 years. Plus of course in her youth Truss wanted to abolish her, so the Queen’s subtle way of reminding her of her place. The Queen has appointed lots of PMs in her reign and is not going to drop everything for Liz Truss who has not even yet won a general election
Leaving aside the rather waspish tone, uncharacteristic in a monarchist, there seems to be a geography fail here.
Although if she can't be bothered to travel from Balmoral to Balmoral it probably is time for a regency.
There is another issue here. That of a level playing field. Businesses, particularly in food and hospitality, which, by sheer luck, got a 2 year fix last October will survive and possibly thrive. Those for renewal will go under. Absolutely without reference to their long term viability.
One council by-election last night: Beverely Rural in East Riding of Yorkshire
LDm gain from Con on a swing of around 24% from 2019. This is the third (LD from Con) gain this year in the East Riding council area.
The Good Week/Bad Week Index scores
LDm +80 Lab -4 Con -63
Based on this, the adjusted seat value
LDm +1.3 Lab -0.1 Con -1.1
Obviously not god for the Cons, particularly as part of an ongoing pattern. Possible influencing factors, beyond the current political situation: the ER LibDems have obviously got themselves organised; the Greens didn't stand this time, so there was a big chunk of votes to be mined; the East Riding council is run by the Cons, so there may be local reasons for their unpopularity.
Tories told us not to be silly when we said the long leadership contest meant an absence of government for many weeks. They're now arguing government can't do anything until the results are announced.
Truss is right to say we need to fix supply, but all I've heard from her and Rishi are measures that actively block supply on the campaign trail with their wars on solar and onshore wind respectively.
Seems I made the right decision to get the fuck out of dodge.
As did I. We're still affected by events at Westminster but with an extra layer of government inbetween us and the lunacy we do feel somewhat insulated.
Doesn't feel like that in Edinburgh with the drifts of litter building during the bin strike. There's an extra layer of government, but it's as cynical as the Westminster government and thrives on conflict and discontent.
You think that the SG doesn’t want the bin strikes resolved? It’s, to use the hoary, old cliché, a view..
Stay with the program. Strikes in England are the fault of the unions. Strikes in Scotland are the fault of the Scottish Government.
Thank Allah I signed up to a two year fixed price deal with EDF in July 2021.
With hindsight, I made a quite impressive error in fixing mine only for twelve months.
Paying around £200 a month for gas and electricity for a big old house for the next 12 months feels like winning the lottery.
Imagine if you'd fixed for 3 years, that'd have been like winning the euromillions. That's my one (minor) regret, I'm fixed from Oct 21 to Oct 23.
My (52p per kWh) heart bleeds for you.
I was a bit late to the fixing party, but I fixed with Octopus Go last week at 40.06 p/kWh with 4 hours of night time electricity at 7.5 p/kWh. That still seems to be available.
Truss is right to say we need to fix supply, but all I've heard from her and Rishi are measures that actively block supply on the campaign trail with their wars on solar and onshore wind respectively.
I don't think she's got problems in that regard. She's high on her own supply.
Thank Allah I signed up to a two year fixed price deal with EDF in July 2021.
With hindsight, I made a quite impressive error in fixing mine only for twelve months.
Paying around £200 a month for gas and electricity for a big old house for the next 12 months feels like winning the lottery.
Imagine if you'd fixed for 3 years, that'd have been like winning the euromillions. That's my one (minor) regret, I'm fixed from Oct 21 to Oct 23.
My (52p per kWh) heart bleeds for you.
I was a bit late to the fixing party, but I fixed with Octopus Go last week at 40.06 p/kWh with 4 hours of night time electricity at 7.5 p/kWh. That still seems to be available.
Comments
It used to be a major news story when it reached a £1000 a year.
https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1563057334993096704
I agree that the government will do *something*. Because the news stories of pensioners freezing to death in their homes will force their hand. But it will be little, late, and reluctant.
Agree Truss will have to make a huge intervention, but she will need something to distract attention.
My (not very original) prediction -> she will go for a big "stop the green crap" thing... get rid of any and all subsidies for green, and pick a fight on that.
No one is going to care how any of this is paid for - country is at war/pandemic/crisis etc. And we are coming up to an election, so I wouldn't expect major public service cuts *yet*. Diversity officers should probably rebrand though.
I think it's frankly unacceptable that a new PM can't be bothered to travel up here to be appointed.
Perhaps compromise at Holyrood?
“Clearly it’s calamitous.
“Whoever becomes leader they will have to deliver huge help.
“There will have to be a social tariff, a small business tariff, and a public sector tariff”
https://twitter.com/kateferguson4/status/1563058086041948161
According to someone who knows someone who knows someone she has bone cancer so is pretty immobile.
Very disappointed in your post tbh.
Companies have the green light to start increasing the direct debit costs with immediate effect.
It’s going to hurt.
This was always going to happen if they were invaded. We couldn't just sit there and let it happen.
Why didn't we fly in lots of "training missions" to act as a poison pill in the run up to the invasion? I reckon that could have just about put Putin off.
Pretty well everyone is going to be looking for someone to blame for the misery this winter.
And that will be the person in charge.
That this was predicted months ago, and government has so far done nothing more than it did six months ago - and is still saying wait and see - is not going to do anything to absolve them of blame.
There are no easy answers, but failing to provide any answers at all is not government.
Government.
And the history of blackmail suggests that submitting to it would not be the optimal response, either.
I see no contradiction in this comment as Truss will be a new government and cabinet to all intents and purposes
'No new support from this government, but Chancellor says he's working "flat out to develop options" for the next PM to introduce.'
People like you and I have been warning about this for weeks and the lack of any preparation by the govt as well as the impact on hospitality.
We need to look at anyway we can reduce demand and protect consumers. It’s not happening though. This govt is a shitshow.
There is a chain of cash. Westminster to Holyrood to Councils. I know the Edinburgh council are (rightly) blaming Holyrood for cutting their budget, but its as easy for Holyrood (rightly) to point down the A1 at the wider mess.
This is despite the extra £2,000 per head we get here in Scotland.
Learning from that mistake is important as it enables us to see that actions like freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea are not dangerous provocation, but am important signal to China we're prepared to defend international law, and thus deter them from going further.
But what about the long term effects of public finances, which are already in a calamitous state.
As always the problems of how to distribute vast amounts of free money is completely detached (the BBC is only one but an egregious example) from the questions of who shall pay for it and how the books shall be balanced.
It is not difficult to produce photos of starving widows and orphans, living on boiled gravel and keeping warm by rubbing two sticks together to set fire to the staircase. Harder to produce a balanced account of the whole picture.
10K could see a constitutional crisis.
Unless you mean we should investigate stripping ten thousand people of the vote on the grounds of insanity.
"the Chancellor says no more bungs" - that's agreed is it not? As you just said, "no new support"
"we should all be appreciatve" - he literally stated the amounts already given.
So what we have here is your faith that the Tory Party is decent, and my world-weary cynicism that it is not. You are expressing hope for decisive action and as the world needs hope I appreciate that. But they needed to be acting now. Before now. Not saying "no more bungs" last night.
That is reality. For all that the outgoing team claim to be working on solutions, the incoming team are fixed on tax cuts for the reasonably off which need to be rushed through. That is their priority. If some pensioners freeze to death this winter I believe the phrase from Truss supporters is "people die so what"
What are you basing "it" on? And what is "it" anyway? What specifically do you think good-old Liz should do on 6th September to save the day keep nasty old Starmer out of power?
Holyrood has cynically cut funding to local government, because they can politically blame the local councils (and Westminster for a bonus in their case), same as central government in London.
In general the SNP have an interest in showing that the current constitutional settlement doesn't work, rather than finding ways to make it a success. They're pretty confident that people happy with the status quo won't vote to upset the apple cart and vote for independence.
Job's a good 'un.
Notwithstanding the real reality is Truss is not PM before 6th September and therefore due to the idiotic Brady and the 1922 the conservative part has placed themselves in a very bad place
However she will get a year to prove herself before Tory MPs decide whether or not to try anything
As Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News.
Experts say the gas would previously have been exported to Germany.
They say the plant near the border with Finland, is burning an estimated $10m (£8.4m) worth of gas every day.
Scientists are concerned about the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate the melting of Arctic ice.
The analysis by Rystad Energy indicates that around 4.34 million cubic metres of gas are being burned by the flare every day.
It is coming from a new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, north-west of St Petersburg. The first signs that something was awry came from Finnish citizens over the nearby border who spotted a large flame on the horizon earlier this summer.
Portovaya is located close to a compressor station at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline which carries gas under the sea to Germany.
Supplies through the pipeline have been curtailed since mid-July, with the Russians blaming technical issues for the restriction. Germany says it was purely a political move following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Are you calling her a massive liar or not?
"At the moment, the price of electricity is set by the last kilowatt needed to balance the grid, currently the cost of gas by an obscene margin. The fossil tail (44pc of total power last year) is wagging the clean dog (56pc). The gains of cheaper renewables are not being passed on."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/08/25/putin-has-already-done-worst-britain-will-manage-winter-crisis/
I am trying to think what Truss will be forced into. We know her views on handouts and on the merits of British workers and the priority of tax cuts and green crap. Whatever she is forced into doing has to fit her worldview, so I would be astonished to see actual support for the most vulnerable - these are the very handouts / bungs she is so stridently against.
Politicians always try and spin their actions to fit what they say, so I can see some universal proposal for everyone whether they need it or not. Likely aimed at the companies (worthy) rather than consumers (workshy), and lets guess that it will be as a government-backed loan which consumers will pay back with interest over the years to come.
She will quite fairly cop the blame if she's PM.
You should not be surprised, as you're the one arguing the public doesn't pay attention to details.
Why Truss said those nasty things about Macron I’ll never know.
Why would you want to piss off EDF’s owner?
Free market economics has a lot to answer for in the energy arena: it drove Europe to a potentially fatal reliance on Russia, it screwed up distribution in favour of the rich in the UK, and now it's screwing the whole country through stratospheric energy prices.
If Truss wants to change things in September she can.
Are you saying we have no government right now?
https://twitter.com/martinslewis/status/1563046744111607809?s=21&t=d1IWntxBbTqcI1EnJ_hMNA
Although if she can't be bothered to travel from Balmoral to Balmoral it probably is time for a regency.
That of a level playing field. Businesses, particularly in food and hospitality, which, by sheer luck, got a 2 year fix last October will survive and possibly thrive.
Those for renewal will go under.
Absolutely without reference to their long term viability.
This rise will be devastating to people across the country.
Labour has a fully costed plan to freeze energy bills, meaning people won’t pay a penny more this winter. https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1563067579119329280/video/1
LDm gain from Con on a swing of around 24% from 2019. This is the third (LD from Con) gain this year in the East Riding council area.
The Good Week/Bad Week Index scores
LDm +80
Lab -4
Con -63
Based on this, the adjusted seat value
LDm +1.3
Lab -0.1
Con -1.1
Obviously not god for the Cons, particularly as part of an ongoing pattern. Possible influencing factors, beyond the current political situation: the ER LibDems have obviously got themselves organised; the Greens didn't stand this time, so there was a big chunk of votes to be mined; the East Riding council is run by the Cons, so there may be local reasons for their unpopularity.
They're now arguing government can't do anything until the results are announced.
Strikes in England are the fault of the unions.
Strikes in Scotland are the fault of the Scottish Government.
The problem with hindsight is that everyone would win the lottery. Which would then diminish the jackpot to a huge extent.