The Chancellor yesterday underwhelmed with her limited package of measures and he assurance she had plans for the cost of living too secret to reveal.
She announced action by the Competition authorities against price gouging. That will require proof that it is happening first.Tax and world prices are the main reasons oil and oil products are so dear.
She will fail to cut fuel duty, VAT or energy taxes. She did say she will look at removing some tariffs on food which could be helpful.
There was nothing on high interest rates, high spending or high borrowing.These could cause serious problems ahead.
There was one good idea, some cuts in tariffs on food from outside the EU. Why has she not thought through which ones. When will she tell us and actually cut some food prices ?
March 25, 2026
Good morning.
Let us hope today’s submission gets posted 😉
Price gouging occurs when the consumer has little or no choice. Whilst I believe that EV’s are of limited use, especially for long journeys, they were a very good competitor to petrol and diesel fuel. By creating competition prices can be kept down and price gouging practically irradicated. By keeping prices down inflation can be held in check. Such lack of joined up thinking typifies government, especially when the Chancer of the Exchequer brings in her own form of gouging the consumer / driver with Pence per Mile charges.
March 25, 2026
Increasing prices and inflation are different things.
The Chancellor needs to tackle inflation.
March 25, 2026
Indeed Lynn. It would be a poor business that didn’t increase prices due to scarcity. There is a significant time lag in oil delivery as it takes about 4 weeks for tankers to reach the UK from the middle east. We could of course be helping alleviate the problem had we kept drilling in the North Sea but the uniparty stopped this with ruinous taxes and legislation to prevent it. You reap what you sow.
As for removing VAT from energy, for he umpteenth time, we would need Brussels permission as it would affect Northern Ireland so exposing the lie that we left the EU.
March 25, 2026
Prices are not increasing much measured against gold or oil or silver, copper, steel… but measured bu the devaluing £1 they are. The main causes of price rises is this deliberate debasement of the £ sterling and increase NI, taxes, minimum wage, net zero, red tape in short the government. All these force companies to increase their prices or go bust!
Reply Gold has just taken a tumble so prices in gold have just risen sharply.
March 25, 2026
@Mark B – This Parliament with its chosen Government doesn’t do competition, they loath the very thought of it. The EU control of all is a must and the only thing to keep markets growing just as they are in the rest of the EU
March 25, 2026
“She announced action by the Competition authorities against price gouging.”
How will she define this gouging. The main souce of gouging and delivering little of real value back is the Government, The main unfair competition is also caused by government and their rigged markets. This in transport, healthcare, schools, universities, energy, banking… why do the “Competition Authorities” never look at these areas of blatant unfair competition from the state start perhaps with Schools state ones free private ones you pay for four times over and Health Care likewise where IPT tax at 12% replaces 29% VAT.
Poor old Jacob Rees-Mogg with his six children (five boys and a girl is it?). Perhaps he should some them to the local comp. at an experiment. I am sure they would come out just fine with the sensible parents they have anyway. The six must cost something like £1 million of his income before tax just for school fees now with VAT on top. So the government gets perhaps £600K in tax, NI, VAT and the shools say £400K in fees! Or if they even to state schools all is free. If that is not unfair competition I am a banana as Hislop might put it.
Legal Fees and the court systems are also a total racket very often.
March 25, 2026
Richard the third look alike “Reeves” like the rest of the motley crew called liebour shouldn’t be allowed to run a bath let alone a country as normal the middle class will be footing the bill to help keep the workshy feckless down the pub and burger joints pissing our taxes down the drain, General strike now or something to get this anti British mob out of power
March 25, 2026
All she did was waffle on about the ‘previous Tory Government’. How long will she blame them.! Otherwise there was no detail. We have learned in the past that ‘targeted support’ means help for those on benefits – again. The rest of us are expected to pay up, and shut up!
March 25, 2026
Too often those on benefits are protected from income/spending pressure. It is those on low incomes, inability to meet rising costs that need to be identified and assisted. Just how does Rachel (definately from Complaints) intend to do that?
March 25, 2026
She likes to blame Truss but she was the only one with a pro growth agenda her policies never took effect she was taken out by the BOE and Sunak groupies,
Spending £ 600bn on mad lockdowns and unsafe and ineffective “vaccines” and even more on net zero and open door to low skilled immigrants did not help Cameron. May, Boris Sunak did it!
March 25, 2026
Key points from Ed Miliband recent statements include:
“Plug-in” Solar Initiative: Miliband announced that easy-to-install solar panels will be available for purchase at supermarkets in the coming months, intended for use on balconies or in gardens to reduce household bills.
Renewables Auction Acceleration: The government is bringing forward the next annual renewables auction to July to speed up the transition to domestic clean energy.
North Sea Drilling Stance: Miliband faced pressure to increase North Sea oil and gas production following the Iran war impacting global supplies. He stated in the House of Commons that “Anyone who tells you that new licences in the North Sea will make any difference to price is not telling you the truth”. (it is you Ed who are not telling the truth why else are USA private 25% of ours?}
Opposition Response: The Conservatives and some industry figures criticized this stance, arguing that refusing to open new fields reduces energy security and harms the economy, with Claire Coutinho calling his approach “flat out wrong”.
Warm Homes Plan: He confirmed that local mayors will receive devolved funding to upgrade homes with insulation and heat pumps. (heat pumps are not an upgrade and they will mainly be powered by gas anyway as not low carbon fuels in winter for them)
Ed either wants to destroy the UKs economy and its ability to defend itself or he is clearly totally insane.
Wind and Solar deliver about 7-8% of our total energy after adjusting for the fosil fuel energy they use and cause to be used in back up, maintenance, construction of collectors more like 5%. In winter when demand is more and there is virtually no solar so more like 3%. Yet mad miliband (and his “experts”) really thing these vastly subsidised wind farms and heat pumps are the way to go?
March 25, 2026
In my opinion, Red Ed is buying his next (highly lucrative) career in the Globalist Eco Quangocracy …. with our money and our energy security.
Just like Alok Sharma did.
March 25, 2026
We appear to be re-living the 1970s – but starting from a far worse position. Sadly, when I looked in the mirror this morning the face looking back at me hadn’t also reverted to its appearance in the 1970s.
I’m just waiting for Two-Tier to stand at the Dispatch Box, with the country collapsing around our ears, and say “Crisis, what crisis?”
On the plus side, and as a precaution, I picked up a very large candle in a charity shop yesterday for just £2. So the sheeple still haven’t worked out what’s coming.
March 25, 2026
We could soon be back to the early 40’s Donna. I’ve found the recent video of the Shahed hitting the monastery in Lviv strangely disturbing. We’ve seen many drone strikes on the news before but this was different. I think it was a combination of the buzzsaw engine sound and the very clear shot of it’s descent over rooftops. It reminded me of Mum’s description of DoddleBugs when the engine stopped and she knew it would explode nearby. All of my family had stories about the Blitz (and I played in the bombsites) but it’s all forgotten now of course.
March 25, 2026
Again on the plus side, at least I won’t have to be evacuated at age 4 like my mother was 🙂
March 25, 2026
The government claims to be against making money from increased fuel prices but they are benefiting because fuel VAT is a percentage of cost, so as the price goes up the Chancellor gets more tax. I doubt that we can look forward to Reeves announcing a revenue neutral cut in VAT to offset the higher fuel costs.
March 25, 2026
She is hoping the war with Iran will be over soon, is aligned with Ed Miliband and believes the adoption of EU rules and standards will bring economic growth.
We have to accept that the chancellor and cabinet have a very different perception of reality than most readers of this site. Only economic collapse might bring essential change.
March 25, 2026
MPC. I fear economic collapse will be the only route to rid us of these people. At 5% the Bond Vigilantes must be getting to the end of their collective tether. Let’s hope they strike soon.
March 25, 2026
Reeves was in deep trouble before this major shock to the world economy, which will just accelerate events. All we can do is sit in the back of the car and watch as we are driven over the cliff…
March 25, 2026
“Targeted support” i.e. for benefits recipients and immigrants nothing for the taxpayer who is supporting this largesse.
Any assistance should be universal up to a certain usage or non-existent.
The first action that Labour should take is to decouple renewable prices from that of gas generation. Then they should renegotiate renewable contracts down and simultaneously remove green taxes from our bills. The other action they could take to help everyone and to concentrate minds on the price of gas and electricity is to remove the levy that we pay in our bills to support those who won’t pay their bills. Put them on pay as they go meters but give them the same capped tariff that other who don’t fix get.
Help for all bar the renewable grifters.
Reply New renewable contracts are dearer than electricity from gas
March 25, 2026
She is totally out of her depth. Rachel and Milliband are going to bring country to its knees.
March 25, 2026
The statement to the house from Reeved did not disappoint. Only those who imagined she would say something positive were disappointed. The rest of us, the realists knew what she would not be saying and we were not disappointed…. Our opinion of Reeves was simply endorsed.
March 25, 2026
No matter how this Iran conflict ends, Reeves will be milking it for a long time to come. She of course needs all the excuses she can find to justify her huge failings.
She’s still bleeding Brexit dry, but now she will be able to add a big ‘and’ to her rationale to show how right she is.
March 25, 2026
Oil and gas prices, the Governments tax take is also rising, it takes more than any other entity takes in turnover let alone profit.
Part of the ‘Plan’ 2TK’s destruction of the UK and its people with majority support form Parliament
March 25, 2026
Price gouging? (putting essential goods etc to unreasonably high levels during or after an emergency, crisis, or natural disaster).
Who is more guilty that this government with their tax increases and frozen allowances during a crisis caused by their own mismanagement and incompetence?
March 25, 2026
Rachel Reeves is a highly productive Waster.