[Politics] Cost of Living Crisis

[KZNSeagull]

All homes will get a £200 discount in October, payable back over 5 years through customers bills.
Council Tax rebate on households in bands A-D in April.

 

[A1X]

 

[Eric the meek]

Here's a link to the Energy Saving Trust - there's lots of advice, e.g. on cutting your energy bills, in here:

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/

 

[Frutos]

your shopping has doubled mine is negliable rise, but i dont buy many brands and cycle through the offers so get the discount of the week.

there will be more focus on energy bills as the prices have gone up substantially, and all the discount deals have gone. it will be be more notable as a single bill in one lump, rather than the small increments over time from general price rises. many on normal tariffs wont see as large a jump as the headlines make out though.

We do a 'big shop' fortnightly, we used to manage that for £100-ish for a household of two, topped up by ad hoc purchases as necessary. We also take advantage of deals and offers, and certainly don't starve ourselves or stick to the bare basics.

That's now increased to about £120 per fortnight, but certainly nowhere near doubled.

 

[Weststander]

Can't help but think that the constant talk of energy price increases is largely intended to divert attention from food price increases. I reckon the (like for like) cost of a food shop has gone up by close to 100% in the last year, which has far more of an effect than energy prices.

Food inflation has been a tiny fraction of that, but it's definitely crept steadily upwards over the years, compound amounting to a lot of money.

Do you have a nearby Aldi or Lidl?

Slightly more effort for me that popping over to Sainsbury's, but the savings by shopping at those two are colossal.

We've reduced our monthly groceries bill by £200.

 

[Notters]

your shopping has doubled mine is negliable rise, but i dont buy many brands and cycle through the offers so get the discount of the week.

there will be more focus on energy bills as the prices have gone up substantially, and all the discount deals have gone. it will be be more notable as a single bill in one lump, rather than the small increments over time from general price rises. many on normal tariffs wont see as large a jump as the headlines make out though.

I find this amazing! We don't buy any brands at all.
All the basics have gone up hugely, like a bag of rice has gone from ~30p to ~80p.
Pasta from £1 for 3 packs to 60p for 1 pack.
Butter from 60p to £1.50

We have now cut down massively on luxury stuff, so we're not spending so much more, but getting a lot less stuff.

Food inflation has been a tiny fraction of that

It really hasn't - I can only think you're all buying ready meals, which have apparently not increased much at all.

 

[southstandandy]

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I'm yet to see any positives from the Brexit debacle. Anyone?

 

[beorhthelm]

I find this amazing! We don't buy any brands at all.
All the basics have gone up hugely, like a bag of rice has gone from ~30p to ~80p.
Pasta from £1 for 3 packs to 60p for 1 pack.
Butter from 60p to £1.50

wow, you're paying a fraction to start with, i.e. my 1kg pasta is £1 (probably 1.05 now).

 

[cunning fergus]

I find this amazing! We don't buy any brands at all.
All the basics have gone up hugely, like a bag of rice has gone from ~30p to ~80p.
Pasta from £1 for 3 packs to 60p for 1 pack.
Butter from 60p to £1.50

We have now cut down massively on luxury stuff, so we're not spending so much more, but getting a lot less stuff.



It really hasn't - I can only think you're all buying ready meals, which have apparently not increased much at all.

Sainsbury’s (not the cheapest) have a brand “Hubbards” and their 500g pasta is 40p…….I bought some yesterday.

 

[nicko31]

View attachment 144669

The only way we will get cheaper energy is via energy indepedance and removing ourselves from the global wholesale market.

Offshore wind is already 40% of our energy, its the cheapest form of new energy and we need to build a lot more.

Of course none of this has anything to do with EU membership, but Brexit does mean UK companies are paying more than £75 a tonne for the carbon they emit than comparable industries in the EU

 

[cunning fergus]

I'm yet to see any positives from the Brexit debacle. Anyone?

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Those U.K. politicians that promise the U.K. electorate that they will take advantage of the freedom to reduce VAT tax rates now we are not tied to EU rules but don’t can be thrown out by the electorate.

Political promises are crystal clear, and unencumbered by trades offs due to being in a trading bloc…….happy days.

 

[beorhthelm]

The only way we will get cheaper energy is via energy indepedance and removing ourselves from the global wholesale market.

Offshore wind is already 40% of our energy, its the cheapest form of new energy and we need to build a lot more.

trouble is that offshore wind is cheap due to subsidy and when the wind doesnt blow enough we rely on gas backup - which was the root cause for the wholesale spike across Europe. there's lack of strategic thinking on storage, lack of building more wind onshore which is cheaper. building more still leaves us suseptible to windless days, so we need some nuclear to prop up the demand. if you're going to build out nuclear thats expensive and negates much the need for renewables. back to strategic thinking.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Those U.K. politicians that promise the U.K. electorate that they will take advantage of the freedom to reduce VAT tax rates now we are not tied to EU rules but don’t can be thrown out by the electorate.

Political promises are crystal clear, and unencumbered by trades offs due to being in a trading bloc…….happy days.

Why won’t they do it?

Because if they do it will show NI is still in the EU and Brexit isn’t really done.

 

[nicko31]

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Those U.K. politicians that promise the U.K. electorate that they will take advantage of the freedom to reduce VAT tax rates now we are not tied to EU rules but don’t can be thrown out by the electorate.

Political promises are crystal clear, and unencumbered by trades offs due to being in a trading bloc…….happy days.

We have always had the freedom, how do you think it got to 5% versus 20%

 

[BBassic]

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but members of the commission are elected by the European parliament which itself is made of MEPs that the U.K public absolutely does (or did) vote for.

I've only skim read a few Google results so happy to be proven wrong here.

 

[Gwylan]

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Completely untrue. Spain reduced VAT last year and is continuing with the cut

 

[cunning fergus]

We have always had the freedom, how do you think it got to 5% versus 20%

Erm, the VAT Directive………

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vat-rates_en

 

[cunning fergus]

Completely untrue. Spain reduced VAT last year and is continuing with the cut

Are you saying Spain is now exempt from ALL the EU VAT Directives which set minimum rates?

Outside the EU the U.K. (like any other independent country in the world) can set it own rates, NO minimum rates.

If politicians decide not to reduce rates when they have promised to they can be punished at the ballot box, as it should be.

 

[cunning fergus]

Correct me if I'm wrong here but members of the commission are elected by the European parliament which itself is made of MEPs that the U.K public absolutely does (or did) vote for.

I've only skim read a few Google results so happy to be proven wrong here.

Was Peter Mandelson elected by the EU Parliament when he became its trade commissioner?

I think its approach is closer to how a politburo works……..powerful people appointing their mates to powerful posts.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The U.K. can now reduce its VAT rates on things like energy costs. We couldn’t do that when in the EU as they were set by the EU Commission which no one in the U.K. elected.

Those U.K. politicians that promise the U.K. electorate that they will take advantage of the freedom to reduce VAT tax rates now we are not tied to EU rules but don’t can be thrown out by the electorate.

Political promises are crystal clear, and unencumbered by trades offs due to being in a trading bloc…….happy days.

That is false. Spain reduced their VAT to their customers and are still in the EU.