Cost of living squeeze in 2022

[A500leroy]

Well im grateful for it Rishi. Thats winter sorted for me and i might be able to have the heating on this year (low)

[757]

A500leroy said:

Well im grateful for it Rishi. Thats winter sorted for me and i might be able to have the heating on this year (low)

Yeah same, better than nothing at all.

[rampageturke]

30% of all households need government intervention to be able to fuel their home after 12 years of tory rule

Any tory voters want to elaborate?

[Mark Benson]

Chebble said:

KTF said:

Throttlebody said:

Thanks Rishi, I really, really don’t need the 400.

Not sure what to blow it on, something unique to celebrate another Govt universal nanny state money print.

Apparently its going to be paid directly into your electricity account. I guess you could ask for it back if you are in credit from your provider at that point.

Edited by KTF on Thursday 26th May 14:48

Could always donate 400 that would otherwise be spent on energy bills to a charity that will help those who need it if he’s feeling particularly charitable?

Imagine if all the people who don't really need the money did some good with it; donated to a local charity or bought supplies for a food bank or soup kitchen.....

[Throttlebody]

Mark Benson said:

Chebble said:

KTF said:

Throttlebody said:

Thanks Rishi, I really, really don’t need the 400.

Not sure what to blow it on, something unique to celebrate another Govt universal nanny state money print.

Apparently its going to be paid directly into your electricity account. I guess you could ask for it back if you are in credit from your provider at that point.

Edited by KTF on Thursday 26th May 14:48

Could always donate 400 that would otherwise be spent on energy bills to a charity that will help those who need it if he’s feeling particularly charitable?

Imagine if all the people who don't really need the money did some good with it; donated to a local charity or bought supplies for a food bank or soup kitchen.....

I’m thinking I’ll have a meal at Heston’s Fat Duck

Needs blowing on something that’s not really required. Just like Rishi’s universal splurge.

[anonymous-user]

richardxjr]Wonder how it [the 400 said:

will work with prepayment meters

Or how it will work if you use oil rather than gas, my electric is less than £400 so are they going to pay me rather than discount the bill?

[KTF]

Throttlebody said:

I’m thinking I’ll have a meal at Heston’s Fat Duck

Needs blowing on something that’s not really required. Just like Rishi’s universal splurge.

I agree that there are people who are in genuine poverty because of this but some of the soundbites you hear like 'we dont have the hot water on all day, wash the towels once a week rather than every few days' and so on. Is that not just something that people should be doing anyway?

Even in the depths of last winter, going for a walk after dinner I was amazed with the number of houses with the curtains still open and the lights on in every room.

The house over the road has had a leak from their cold water tank overflow in their roof for months now. I say a leak but its more like a constant stream of water coming out and they have done nothing about it. Its landing on their conservatory roof so they must hear it all the time yet have done nothing despite what it must be costing them.

[KTF]

gottans said:

Or how it will work if you use oil rather than gas, my electric is less than 400 so are they going to pay me rather than discount the bill?

I imagine your electricity provider will credit your bill with £400 then claim it back from the government themselves.

It will sit as credit on your account and you slowly burn through it.

[markbigears]

How do the greatest economic minds in the UK come up with ideas such as taxing the oil companies? Is it just appeasing the twitters of the country? And what happens next time? Raid your children piggy bank? Very dangerous strategy

[anonymous-user]

rampageturke said:

30% of all households need government intervention to be able to fuel their home after 12 years of tory rule

Any tory voters want to elaborate?

It would be still be 30% of households under Labour, just a different set who had money before Labour taxed them into poverty.

I don't think Labour under Blair/Brown introducing in-work benefits has helped long term as it allowed companies to get away with paying the minimum they can i.e. the legal minimum wage knowing the government would top it up to something you can just about live on.

The result we are living with is a proliferation of minimum wage jobs and zero hours contracts at the expense of skilled and well paid jobs.

[Gweeds]

Sheets Tabuer said:

Where did I say that?

£600 for cba to work. Your words.

So I’ll ask you again.

[anonymous-user]

markbigears said:

How do the greatest economic minds in the UK come up with ideas such as taxing the oil companies? Is it just appeasing the twitters of the country? And what happens next time? Raid your children piggy bank? Very dangerous strategy

Not your kids piggy bank but your piggy bank containing your pension (again).

[Sway]

markbigears said:

How do the greatest economic minds in the UK come up with ideas such as taxing the oil companies? Is it just appeasing the twitters of the country? And what happens next time? Raid your children piggy bank? Very dangerous strategy

You think the greatest economic minds in the country work in the Treasury (or No.11)?

It should be absolutely apparent that this isn't the case...

[Portofino]

KTF said:

Throttlebody said:

I’m thinking I’ll have a meal at Heston’s Fat Duck

Needs blowing on something that’s not really required. Just like Rishi’s universal splurge.

I agree that there are people who are in genuine poverty because of this but some of the soundbites you hear like 'we dont have the hot water on all day, wash the towels once a week rather than every few days' and so on. Is that not just something that people should be doing anyway?

Even in the depths of last winter, going for a walk after dinner I was amazed with the number of houses with the curtains still open and the lights on in every room.

The house over the road has had a leak from their cold water tank overflow in their roof for months now. I say a leak but its more like a constant stream of water coming out and they have done nothing about it. Its landing on their conservatory roof so they must hear it all the time yet have done nothing despite what it must be costing them.

Yep some numpty on BBC this morning moaning that his three sons will not have their normal three baths a night and will switch to showers as it uses less & that the wife will no longer dry the clothes on the rads with the windows open…..

I mean WTAF!!

[brickwall]

Mark Benson said:

brickwall said:

Mark Benson said:

brickwall said:

This list just shows how clueless the public are when it comes to actually changing spending. I’m sure Mark Benson thinks himself more well-informed than average, but even he hasn’t got any ideas that’ll actually touch the sides.

Let’s look at this list in order shall we
- HS2: Already spent 14bn out of 44bn for phase 1. The remaining 30bn will be spent over the next 8 years, so 3.5bn per year…about 0.3% of the government’s budget.
- Foreign aid: Cut the lot, saves 12bn. Whoop-di-do, you’ve cut government spending by a grand 1%.
- Crossrail: Already built, too late. No money to be saved.
- Travel subsidies: 1-2bn saved. Pat yourself on the back for the incredible change you’ve made to government finances.
- Civil service: Total cost of civil service is ~ 13bn. Half of civil service employment are operational delivery (prison officers, job centre employees, HMRC call centre workers etc.). Total cost of “Whitehall” salaries is c. 1.5bn. Even taking very aggressive cuts you could perhaps save 5bn…0.5% of government spending.
- In-work benefits (raising the burden on employers to compensate): This works almost identically to a tax (because either way employers pay).
- Consolidate local councils: Total council spending is 106bn; 75% of this goes straight out the door in just 3 areas: education, social care, and ‘blue light’ (police and fire). If you cut council “central services” completely, you’d save 4bn.

So all Mark’s wonderful ideas add up to a grand total of (generously) 25bn, which is <2.5% of government spending. Our budget deficit for this year is > 100bn!

I'm sure you consider yourself incredibly clever with your snide comments but you failed to understand the context in which I was responding.

You were offering ideas to cut spending so that there is room to cut tax.
I am merely pointing out that your ideas cut spending only minimally, and therefore create room only for minimal tax cuts.

No, I was responding to a post which read:

Gecko1978 said:

I agree tax is too high however....Universal Credit, NHS, Civil Service, local council, police, fire, military, MPs, Foreign aid, travel subsidises, cross rail, HS2....all has to be paid for an if we cur tax then something has to give...pick one

I made no claims about effectiveness whatsoever.
Maybe spend some time understanding what you're responding to before trying to insult people to prove how clever you are.

Great, so person A says “if you want to cut tax then you’ve got to cut something. Pick one”

You pick lots of things. (But none of them will make a difference).

Lots of ideas, ok with none of them making a difference.

Well done, you’ll go far!

[fido]

gottans said:

richardxjr]Wonder how it [the 400 said:

will work with prepayment meters

Or how it will work if you use oil rather than gas, my electric is less than 400 so are they going to pay me rather than discount the bill?

I assume it carries over so what you save on electric you can use of oil.

[Mark Benson]

brickwall said:

Mark Benson said:

Maybe spend some time understanding what you're responding to before trying to insult people to prove how clever you are.

Great, so person A says “if you want to cut tax then you’ve got to cut something. Pick one”

You pick lots of things. (But none of them will make a difference).

Lots of ideas, ok with none of them making a difference.

Well done, you’ll go far!

I see you didn't take my advice. Never mind, your loss.

[Gerradi]

kiethton said:

100% this - awful precedent for our economy which will just stifle international investment and set a negative precedent for the future

We're seeing it everywhere - extra taxes on residential developers as another example....

In 2014 the Gov set up a Basin wide investment strategy that we the tax payer have been paying to support there investment plans...So this will not STIFLE anything & as BP announced this will not affect the investments ,partly due to the Gov help etc.

An immediate 2% reduction to the rate of the Supplementary Charge from 32% to
30%, to demonstrate the government’s commitment to reducing the overall tax
burden of the industry, with the ambition of reducing the rate further in future in
an affordable way
&#61623; the introduction of a basin-wide ‘Investment Allowance’ to reduce the effective tax
rate further for those companies investing in the future of the UKCS. A consultation
will be published in early 2015
&#61623; an immediate extension of the ring fence expenditure supplement from six to ten
accounting periods to ensure companies already investing in the UCKS are given
every support to continue
&#61623; financial support for seismic surveys in under-explored areas of the UKCS, working
with industry on options for shared funding models. Details will be set out at
Budget 2015

So please stop the Hyperbole

[chemistry]

markbigears said:

How do the greatest economic minds in the UK come up with ideas such as taxing the oil companies? Is it just appeasing the twitters of the country? And what happens next time? Raid your children piggy bank? Very dangerous strategy

Exactly. It's stupid, plus by putting more money into the economy it is fuelling inflation.

I realise many folks are really struggling right now, but the reality is that this is the hangover after furlough, lockdown, Ukraine and the rest. Its awful and unpleasant, but there's no avoiding it.

In my view we shouldn't be inventing new windfall taxes; companies will be wary next time so will be incentivised to move elsewhere, raise prices, avoid investment, etc .

Instead, limited support should be given to people on the lowest incomes and the rest of us just need to find ways to manage - fewer luxuries, make-do and mend attitude, cutting back on discretionary spend like hobbies etc. It will suck, but there's no avoiding it.

[BRR]

Can't wait to blast my £650 on a new hot tub, should be enough to get me one with inbuilt speakers and lights. will also have to reactivate my twitter account so I can demand a winter energy grant so I can afford to heat it