Cost of living

Dear Constituent

This month the price of gas and electricity will shoot Ā up, following a period of price control. I have been arguing that the government does more to help offset the impact of these higher bills on living standards.

I was pleased the government did offer a reduction of Council tax to many. It adopted the advice I and others offered to make a cut in fuel duty and to remove VAT from green products that can help cut energy use and bills. It Ā has sought to delay some of the rise in bills. In the Spring Statement it raised the threshold for National Insurance, abating some of the impact of the National Insurance rise the government is imposing.

I do not think this is sufficient offset so I am pressing for more action. I wanted to see the cancellation of the National Insurance rise and the removal of VAT on domestic fuel.

I am also pressing for changes to energy policy to increase the supply of domestic energy to ease some of the shortages. I am hoping some of my proposals will be included in the Energy statement we are expecting soon from the government.

 

I am very worried about the cost of living pressures and will continue to press for more action to ease the impact. Government needs to bend all its powers to controlling the Ā inflation, cushioning Ā the Ā impact and increasing supply where there are shortages. Pensions and benefits will need further review as prices rise, and the tax burden needs to be reduced.

 

Yours sincerely

John Redwood

 

 

231 Comments

  1. Everhopeful
    April 1, 2022

    Why are people who donā€™t pay Council Tax ( it is part of their benefits) getting the Ā£150 rebate?

    1. Ian Wragg
      April 1, 2022

      Because it would be way cist not to include them.
      After all Sunshines tinkering he still manages to increase the tax take to over a trillion pounds.
      Tory he is not.

      1. Everhopeful
        April 1, 2022

        +100
        Ah ha!
        Thanks. Hadnā€™t thought of that.

    2. hefner
      April 1, 2022

      EH, Are they? Really? How do you know that? It does not seem to be the case in my area.

      1. Everhopeful
        April 1, 2022

        From a horseā€™s mouth.

        1. hefner
          April 1, 2022

          Sorry, I was a bit slow.

          1. Everhopeful
            April 1, 2022

            +1
            OK šŸ™‚

        2. Cheshire Girl
          April 2, 2022

          Yes. Ive heard that too. I know someone who has been on benefits for many years. They did not work, when they were healthy and able to do so.They receive full state pension, pension credit, and all associated benefits, including the Ā£20 UC uplift. They do not have to pay for TV licence either.
          I am a pensioner and a tax payer, and I don’t think this is quite fair. Together with others, I am paying for this, never having been on benefits. However, mention this, and one gets shouted down, and called heartless. That is not the case at all.

      2. Ian Wragg
        April 1, 2022

        Defo. Mother in law has had notification from council.

        1. Everhopeful
          April 1, 2022

          +1

    3. Hope
      April 1, 2022

      JR, I think it time your govt called an election. We cannot afford any further economic mismanagement, cultural Marxist ideology mixed with eco loons. Every major policy failure costing us in our pockets, culture, way of life. I donā€™t want to go back to 1950 living standards while Johnson sill acts like a reckless Bullington buffoon.

      1. Richard1
        April 1, 2022

        If Labour won it would be much worse

        1. Hope
          April 2, 2022

          Record over 12 years shows this is categorically wrong. Tories have highest taxation, debt,deficit, immigration, illegal immigration etc etc. all archived by their high spend and waste policies. Fact.

      2. L Jones
        April 1, 2022

        ”…time your govt called an election..”
        Time to remember what Mark Twain said:
        ”If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”

  2. javelin
    April 1, 2022

    I see the Ruble has return to pre invasion levels. Showing Putinā€™s demand to be paid in Rubles has worked. I also see the price of oil and gas has RISEN which can only benefit the Russian economy. When the price of oil dropped a few years ago it hurt the Russian economy.

    So what is REALLY going on? The US and UK have cut oil and gas production after being infiltrated by green policies. The same green policies pushed by activists funded by Chinese money. The Chinese of course push ahead with their own cheap energy policies of building coal and gas fired power stations.

    So where did the billions spent on the track and trace system go? One app on a phone costs billions? Really !? I donā€™t believe that for one second. A serious crime has clearly been committed and the proceeds have gone to a consultancy and IT company.

    Then we have large scale illegal immigration costing billions every year to house illegal immigrants in four star hotels. Is this really ethical or moral to impose on the British people? Of course not.

    The Conservative party has become completely detached from reality. They absolutely deserve to be replaced by a party who supports British values.

    1. Sir Joe Soap
      April 1, 2022

      Indeed, three pronged idiocy.
      The stupidity of chucking money away in all directions 2 years ago is now coming home to roost. Why couldn’t there be long term loans for healthy young people to voluntarily take furlough to sit in their gardens? Why couldn’t we have sheltered the vulnerable and paid them not to work and mingle? Indeed where did the billions go on apps and testing hand-outs?
      The naivety of following green policies pushed by foreign forces which themselves ignore them. GEUrmany manages to double down on ignoring it by both burning more coal than us and buying gas from Russia.
      Then they import more people and house them on us just to kick the nation senseless one more time.

    2. No Longer Anonymous
      April 1, 2022

      In one way the cost of living crisis is good.

      The tolerance that has allowed all this nonsense to go on will snap.

    3. Peter
      April 1, 2022

      Javelin,
      ā€˜The Conservative party has become completely detached from reality. They absolutely deserve to be replaced by a party who supports British values.ā€™

      Agreed. I would even settle for the Conservative Party needs to finished off, like Labour and Liberals, so that it is no longer a safe haven for chancer/careerist MPs.

      A replacement party is more difficult to achieve in the short term.

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        April 1, 2022

        Could you please identify a “British value”, but which is not also shared by rule-of-law, peaceful, democratic countries such as France, Denmark, etc.?

        It would be very helpful towards some kind of understanding of what motivates you.

        Thanks.

        1. Sir Joe Soap
          April 1, 2022

          From Moscow perhaps little difference.

          Was it George Bush who once said “there’s no such thing as an entrepreneur in France?”.
          Seriously, the French are dirigiste, we shouldn’t be.
          Shopkeeper versus bureaucrat?
          Anglican versus Catholic?
          Lots of different values.

          Danes less so but look at the sense of humour. Dry, dark and a bit weird to British.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            So, substantially, you can’t do it, can you?

        2. Mickey Taking
          April 1, 2022

          well for a start a British value that France does not share is the burning of live animals in lorries at docks….

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            You might as well have said that France does not share Britain’s taste for cigar-smoking Psycho film lookalike TV presenters whose very serious and prolific offences it concealed until after he had died to be equally representative.

            Well done.

        3. rick hamilton
          April 1, 2022

          Being reasonable.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 2, 2022

            You think that negotiating a treaty, proclaiming it to be a triumph, and then boasting of intending to shred it within days is “reasonable”?

            What’s that sound that I can hear?

    4. alan jutson
      April 1, 2022

      Javelin
      Yup, we sanction Russians who do not live here, but have business interests here which pay UK taxes, but we Purchase and import Russian Gas and Coal, feeding them with huge sums of money to fight a war, when we are helping the other side.
      Political thinking gone mad.

    5. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Javelin. It would be great to replace any one of the 3 main parties but please God, not for the Greens or SNP. Mind you, it feels like we have the green party in now. Sadly I don’t see Reform making it but it won’t stop me voting for them. If nobody I’d standing in my constituency then I’ll spoil my paper but I cannot bring myself to vote for the carnage we have now.

      1. JoolsB
        April 1, 2022

        Reform party for me too FUS, thatā€™s like you say if they stand. Theyā€™re the only party resembling anything like a Conservative party at the moment. I will definitely not be voting for the fake Tories even if it lets Labour in. Might be a good thing long term if Labour get to govern England propped up by an unaccountable and unelected SNP. Hopefully then people in England might just wake up to the rotten deal financially and constitutionally that Johnā€™s party and the scum that are Labour have been only too happy to saddle us English with.

        1. Timaction
          April 1, 2022

          Indeed. It is the English people, the indigenous population, who have been let down badly by the legacy parties since they ousted Mrs Thatcher in 1990! Every policy area from no independent Parliament for its voters, to subsidy for the other Countries in the Union, the EU, foreign aid, high taxation, poor education, poor health provision etc. The list goes on and on. I won’t be voting for the green socialist Party in Tory clothes.

        2. Fedupsoutherner
          April 1, 2022

          Jools +100

        3. glen cullen
          April 1, 2022

          +1 brexit in name only – Tory in name only

    6. Mitchel
      April 1, 2022

      “What is going on?”

      Read it all here:”Meet the New Resource-Based Global Reserve Currency” (31-03-22)at the Strategic-Culture.org website.Written by Pepe Escobar,the man with his finger on the pulse of Eurasia and his ear to the steppe:

      “….not to mention the master coup by the Russian Central Bank,pegging one gram of gold to 5000 rubles-which is already around $60,and climbing.

      Coupled with No Rubles,No Gas,what we have here is energy de facto pegged to gold.The EU chihuahuas and the Japanese colony will need to buy a lot of rubes in gold or buy a lot of gold to have their gas.And it gets better.Russia may re-peg the ruble to gold in the near future.Could go to 2000 rubles,1000rubles or even 500 rubles for a gram of gold.

      The Russian Central Bank unlike the Fed does not practice QE and won’t export toxic inflation to the rest of the planet.”

      And from former President,Dmitry Medvedev,this week:

      “We will supply food and crops only to our friends(fortunately we have a lot of them,and they are not at all in Europe and not in North America).We will sell both for rubles and for their national currency in agreed proportions.”

      Another fascinating article from Escobar this week too – this time at thecradle.co:”How Mariupol will become a key hub of Eurasian Integration.”It explains how everything fits together.

      1. Mitchel
        April 1, 2022

        Also,this just in from Reuters:”Brazil central bank quadruples exposure to Chinese Yuan”

        “The shift underscores China’s growing economic importance to Brazil,where it represents28% of international trade,more than twice the US,it’s next largest trade partner,World Bank data shows.”

      2. Nottingham Lad Himself
        April 1, 2022

        Did anyone explain the marvellous plan to those young Russians, who have irradiated and contaminated themselves, digging trenches next to the sealed-off plant at Chernobyl?

        1. Mickey Taking
          April 1, 2022

          did they even know about Chernobyl and that they were sent there to ‘control’ the locals?
          Once known maybe they decided to get out?

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            That’s kinda my point…

    7. Mark
      April 1, 2022

      So far the gas continues to flow through Nordstream I and via the Ukraine to Baumgarten and Russian LNG is discharging at several EU ports. The threat to cut supply hasn’t been implemented except on the Yamal pipeline via Belarus at Kondratki, Poland, which pumped e tra has yesterday but stopped at midnight. The market has fallen back with the failure to implement the threat.

      Tracing through the implications of requiring payment in roubles is complex. The roubles would presumably have to be purchased with euros, and unless an “offshore” eurorouble market developed, that would mean a Russian bank ends up with the euros from the forex transaction, and gets the roubles back when payment is made. Only banking fees and perhaps an imbalance between the invoiced exchange rate under rouble pricing of gas and the actual forex rate providing wiggle room for what would be a disguised price increase. If the Russian bank only supplies roubles against say yuan it ends up with the yuan and China gets the euros.

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 1, 2022

        I totally understand why Russia would resent being paid in Euros.

  3. Mark B
    April 1, 2022

    Good morning.

    Again, a good MP at work. I am still waiting for similar for mine but will probably get something near the next GE asking for my vote. I think we all know where I shall be putting that little missive šŸ˜‰

    There is more yet to be done and there is equally more that cannot be done, certainly in the shorterm. One thing that cn be done is to put a cap on the level of subsidy we have to pay in our bills to so called Green Energy. Another it to look at things we could produce here in the UK but import. Fertilizer would be a good start as this is currently going through the roof as we get a lot from Russia.

    These matters could not have come soon enough as it will now start to make people think about energy cost, supply and security. We will then push into the public debate the various forms of supply, their pros and cons and hopefully begin to question the so called renewables, Net-Zero and where the hell this government is taking us. Like the EU debate, once people know what really is going on and get motivated we can then begin to effect change.

    1. Michelle
      April 1, 2022

      Unless of course letting people know what is going on becomes ‘harmful’ to them and the information is classified as ‘misinformation’ then effecting the change will become even more difficult than it is now.

      1. John Hatfield
        April 1, 2022

        affecting with an ‘a’.

        1. hefner
          April 9, 2022

          If it is ā€˜putting into effectā€™ effecting is correct, I think.

  4. Everhopeful
    April 1, 2022

    The local council Labour candidate came round door-to-dooring.
    Very unusual here now.
    Full of Johnsonā€™s Partygate ( still).
    And horribly confident I thought.
    The Channel debacle, covid and impoverishment are not good news for Tory MPs concerned about their seats. ( Our Tory MP has contacted us once since 2019ā€¦about some stupid race!!)
    How to get an 80 seat majority and throw it away!

    1. Sir Joe Soap
      April 1, 2022

      Cons to Lab. Bad to worse. Ask the happy chappy:

      Who put the green premium onto power bills?
      Who kept schools closed under the guise of covid?
      Who started the open door policy when were in the EU?

      1. Everhopeful
        April 1, 2022

        Believe me I am NO fan of Labour.
        And I told him so.

  5. SM
    April 1, 2022

    May I ask, when and if pensions and benefits are reviewed, for someone to take another look at the rule that prevents those of us who now live outside the UK from receiving State pensions uplifts?

    I have a small State pension, based on my late husband’s NI contributions, that is frozen at 2017 levels, I am required to fill in a UK self-assessment tax return each year (for which I pay a UK tax accountant to complete, as I cannot deal with the complexities), and I am now having to draw a small income from my savings, which will take me just above the tax threshold, it seems. Yet, obviously, I use absolutely no UK State facilities.

    Like many others, I moved abroad for family reasons, not to live on a fine yacht or by a private swimming pool in sunny climes, and I have to monitor my financial status with great care.

    1. Narrow Shoulders
      April 1, 2022

      Just get it paid into a UK bank account and use a relative’s UK address.

      It is wrong that exiles do not get full pensions that they have contributed to but easily got round, like all measures to prevent benefits (which pensions are not) into the wrong hands.

      1. SM
        April 1, 2022

        I would not commit fraud under any circumstances.

        1. Narrow Shoulders
          April 1, 2022

          That is admirable SM. But governments are no friend of the law abiding who accept their lot.

      2. alan jutson
        April 1, 2022

        NR
        Aware this takes place, but no sure it’s actually legal ?

      3. Lifelogic
        April 1, 2022

        It is indeed an outrage that pensioners are being robbed in this way they have paid for these pensions after all. Though the above rather sounds like fraud to me.

        Another issue is the huge increase in electricity standing charges – one can cut down on energy use with extra jumpers, turning the fridges off or having fewer baths & showers but if you double standing charges the poor can do nothing to avoid these other than cut off the electricity and gas.

        1. Timaction
          April 1, 2022

          I read the standing charge increase is to cover the costs of bankruptcy of all the power companies. So, we pay again for Government policy on the energy cap!

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            Privatise the profits, socialise the losses, again.

    2. No Longer Anonymous
      April 1, 2022

      SM – quite a lot of ex pat pensioners return to the UK at the point that they need the most expensive treatment on the NHS.

      1. SM
        April 1, 2022

        Well, they would need somewhere to stay for quite a while, wouldn’t they, given the current waiting lists, which would cost money.

        However, I am aware of some Sth Africans, who have been able to acquire dual SA/British nationality because of their ancestry, travelling to the UK in recent years for major operations on the NHS without being charged a penny for them!

        1. Timaction
          April 1, 2022

          ……………ravelling to the UK in recent years for major operations on the NHS without being charged a penny for them!
          Disgusting that after 12 years in office the Tory’s have refused to deal with health tourism, despite their promises.

          1. Lifelogic
            April 1, 2022

            @ SM well do not blame them if the system allows it blame the system.

      2. miami.mode
        April 1, 2022

        Agreed NLA and perhaps this would suggest that some sort of long term eligibility criteria or insurance should be used for access to free NHS treatment as is the case with the state pension and National Insurance contributions and private pensions.

      3. Iain Gill
        April 1, 2022

        thats funny

        The French nationals studying in England go back to France when they need medical treatment, and the UK nationals studying in France use the French hospitals when they need treatment. see, its almost like one set of hospitals is actually doing a reasonable job and the other isnt.

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          April 1, 2022

          The French have a constitutional right to decent healthcare.

          Politicians can’t tinker with that.

        2. Lifelogic
          April 2, 2022

          Well when we used the French system A&E some 10 years back we got a bill and paid it. The NHS should do the same.

  6. Everhopeful
    April 1, 2022

    I am certain that the govt. will protect those on benefits.
    The hot tubs and pizza deliveries wonā€™t stop. Nor the parties and taxis.
    It will be the workers who pay for govt. folly.
    As ever.

    1. Narrow Shoulders
      April 1, 2022

      Quite, one of the reasons that cost of living has increased is because there is more money in circulation that has been created and given away by government.

      I fail to see why benefits recipients should be insured against these rises when the rest of us are not just because politics can be played with the word “benefits” . Benefits recipients should feel the cold hard economic realities that others have to feel.

      1. Everhopeful
        April 1, 2022

        +1
        Agree entirely

      2. turboterrier
        April 1, 2022

        Narrow Shoulders
        Feel the cold hard economic realities

        Steady on pal you will end up with a riot and all glueing themselves to the motorways if you enforced that.

        Great comment.

      3. Fedupsoutherner
        April 1, 2022

        +many

  7. Peter Wood
    April 1, 2022

    Good Morning,

    The Inflation crisis has been caused by our government and other western economies keeping too low interest rates and ‘creating money’ to save their economies (read: remain in power).

    The energy crisis has been caused by our government policy and others by not ensuring self-sufficiency when they could do so.

    Food price inflation will now hit us like a sledgehammer because we import many of the foods we could produce at home but don’t, owing to incompetent government policy.

    Sir J, are you seeing a picture here?

    1. Nig l
      April 1, 2022

      Spot on. Add putting up taxes, reneging on triple lock, wasting/giving vast amounts of money to the NHS with no plan, promise of improvements etc. I see we are wasting a mere Ā£100 million or so storing useless PPE not to mention little/no check on quality or numbers supplied. Billions given to fraudsters by the Treasury etc.

      We are getting Ā£150 of our own money back, wow.

      A shambolic prime minister, a shambolic government.

      1. Fedupsoutherner
        April 1, 2022

        Nig1. Add on illegal immigration and foreign aid to that list.

    2. Narrow Shoulders
      April 1, 2022

      The inflation crisis has been caused by all economies creating money to enable lockdowns which were unnecessary. The low demand created by lockdowns hid the effects of helicopter money which is now evident.

      Tax rises to pay for backlogs created by the lockdown.

      Gas and electricity rises because politicians have their heads up the **ses and think they can make a finite resource go further by pretending to be eco-warriors.

      I see house prices are still rising despite so called cost of living crisis because you can’t buck supply and demand especially when money is being created out of thin air.

  8. DOM
    April 1, 2022

    The true cost of living should not be concealed nor massaged away by tweaking taxes to insulate the main parties from their culpability in what we are now seeing. All Parliamentary parties and those who vote for them are directly responsible for the events that are now unfolding

    The free-lunch culture encourage by filthy Labour, the useless, valueless Tories and the odious, parasitic SNP must be paid for in some shape or form. The full price of Socialism must be borne or the voter will eventually vote themselves into servitude and enslavement

    John and his party want their cake and they wanna eat it. That’s not the real world

    1. Nottingham Lad Himself
      April 1, 2022

      Again I agree with your opening phrase.

      However, the true cost should not be concealed by excluding the purchase price of accommodation from inflation figures either, and that would have far greater impact than the other matters that you mention.

      The power of the British Establishment has always had its roots in title to real property, and it has always sought to prevent ordinary people from acquiring it. True inflation does this for them very effectively.

      The same couple of hundred families or so still own about half the land area of England.

      1. Wonky Moral Compass
        April 1, 2022

        It would be interesting to know how much of that land is still in the hands of the descendants of Norman colonists.

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          April 1, 2022

          Of that half, a large proportion of it, I think, though it may often have changed between paternal lines within that group.

          Those families still generally practice primogeniture to this day, which keeps the estates undivided.

        2. Julian Flood
          April 2, 2022

          Well, I plead guilty for two acres, but I did buy them, not inherit. On behalf of Alan Flaad, we Normans thank you. The Kingsman side of my DNA agrees with you.

          There’s a poem, by I think Kipling, that goes into the ambiguity of mixed ancestry. Or was it Houseman?

          JF

      2. No Longer Anonymous
        April 1, 2022

        Helicopter money is what has created house price inflation. Where our global adversaries have invested in gold and in mineral extraction and disliked fiat we have run on credit and created money from thin air and pegged it to the domestic housing market. The Western pyramid scheme needs ever more members to join it in order to give the impression of growth and financial credibility… hence we wanted to annex Ukraine.

        Putin has just called an end to it.

        Reagan brought the iron curtain down. Biden’s put a new one up except this time we’ll be the ones behind it ruled by twisted ideology and subsisting on boiled cabbage… if we can get the fertiliser.

        ———-

        They say that Ukraine is winning but all I see is their country being wrecked and their people being killed. Yet again we hear an old person on BBC saying “I loved my old life and my home.”

        So why was joining the EU and NATO so important to them ? Why oh why didn’t they remain neutral ? They were being bribed by the EU and NATO to keep a Ponzi scheme going. That’s why.

        1. No Longer Anonymous
          April 1, 2022

          From disconnecting money from the stabilising force that is gold (money without gold) the West even went on to create an even newer version – virtual money, ie money without money.

          They say that money is the root of all evil, some say oil is the root of all evil.

          Well I don’t.

          Credit was given to enable people to own more property and land than they ever could, NLH. Fair enough, I say.

          Loose credit, on the other hand, is the root of all evil. It has enabled consumption way above that which can be earned or will ever be earned in the West. It has enslaved us to those in the East who were wiser and more patient that we.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            Property subject to a mortgage is owned by the mortgagee, not by the mortgagor.

            The lenders own most of it, therefore.

            The objective is met.

        2. Mitchel
          April 1, 2022

          The new iron curtain is the Three Seas Initiative -an attempt to block Russia(and China)from west and central Europe by creating new trade corridors running north-south from the Baltic to the Black Seas,from Gdansk to Odessa,etc.The Poles are very keen because it is,for them, another attempt to re-create the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth(the last attempt,in the inter world war years, ended with Poland being wiped off the map …again!).Although why anyone should want that dysfunctional mess back is a mystery.

          The new (2 April) edition of the globalists bible,The Economist,has the (rather desperate)cover headline:”Why Ukraine must win.”

          It reminds of Lenin’s words* from 1 May 1915:

          “The Economist,a journal that speaks for the British millionaires, is pursuing a very instructive line in relation to the war.”

          (*from “Bourgeois Philanthropism and Revolutionary Social Democracy.”)

      3. Mickey Taking
        April 1, 2022

        that which the Church doesn’t own!

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          April 1, 2022

          Yes, that happened widely through frankalmoin. In the 12th century the institution came to be misused. Land could be donated to a church or other religious organisation and then leased back to the donor, allowing the donor to avoid the feudal services otherwise due to his lord.

    2. Everhopeful
      April 1, 2022

      +1
      They want to redefine reality to suit their agenda(s)ā€¦the whole lot of them.
      Even I am surprised that not one of them has stood up and shoutedā€¦
      ā€œEnough!ā€
      And meant it.

    3. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Hear, hear Dom.

  9. Mike Wilson
    April 1, 2022

    I am very worried about the cost of living pressures

    But they wonā€™t affect you or any other MP. Apart from the fact that ā€˜itā€™s the economy, stupidā€™. What a country! The appalling Tory government seems to be determined to lose the next election to an even more appallingly useless Labour Party.

    If Labour and the Lib Dems get their act together and donā€™t put candidates up in seats they have no chance of winning – and Labour campaign on Tory corruption and the cost of living and the Lib Dems campaign on the dogā€™s breakfast the Tories have made of breakfast – then I think Mr. Redwood will be out of a job and writing his memoirs after the next election. Mind you, what a pension to look forward to.

    1. Mike Wilson
      April 1, 2022

      Brexit, not breakfast! I think even a Tory could put cereal in a bowl and add milk.

      1. Peter Parsons
        April 1, 2022

        Indeed, and Brexit is still not done. On 1st July, SPS checks on imports are due to be introduced (this government was so ready to “take back control” that it’s had to delay doing so due to not being ready for it). The estimated cost of these checks is Ā£1 billion, and the effects will be felt most heavily by small businesses.

        The food industry is pushing for a further delay and Jacob Rees-Mogg is arguing for abandoning these checks completely. How is abandoning food safety checks on imported foodstuffs”taking back control” exactly?

        1. Denis Cooper
          April 1, 2022

          Why should we suddenly start checking stuff from the EU that we have not been checking for nearly three decades, since the advent of the EU Single Market in January 1993? We have left the EU, but the other member states have not left the EU and are still operating under EU regulations, and unless we think that they are going to start breaking their own law and sending us goods which do not meet their EU standards then there is no need for us to introduce routine checks which we were not even allowed to perform while we were in the EU. Eventually, perhaps, we may start to worry that some of their standards are no longer up to scratch, or that they are no longer being enforced as rigorously as they once were, but until then there is no obvious need for us to change what we have been doing.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 1, 2022

            Yes, we can trust them but they can’t trust us, you seem to admit.

          2. Peter2
            April 1, 2022

            Excellent post Denis.
            In addition why does anyone think companies (and individuals) purchasing goods made in Europe will not check the goods they have purchased and decide if they are fit for purpose.

          3. Denis Cooper
            April 1, 2022

            Less a matter of who can trust whom as a matter of the laws which each have in force.

          4. graham1946
            April 1, 2022

            If they hadn’t sent us horsemeat disguised and charged as beef, I’d agree with you.

          5. Denis Cooper
            April 2, 2022

            I’m aware that there have been occasional infringements, of which that was one. But we and they did not react to that infringement by reinstating intensive routine checks on all imports from other EU member states. If it had been a danger to human health that might have been different. The point is that so far there have been no significant changes with the rules for those goods in their countries of origin, which are all still applying EU law, and so there is no pressing need for us to change the way we treat those goods.

          6. Nottingham Lad Himself
            April 2, 2022

            Graham, you might wish to investigate who exported the most such meat to whom, the UK to the European Union or vice-versa?

    2. Everhopeful
      April 1, 2022

      +1
      I always wonder what will happen when these things actually DO affect them en masse.
      There have been a few tragedies so far and the victims have virtue signalled like mad.
      Ohā€¦itā€™s just all beyond meā€¦.

      But think of the necessary checking re breakfast!!
      Milk..not cow carbon ā€¦.oat milk/soy/almondā€¦not from certain placesā€¦.cereal/CEREAL ā€¦wooooooā€¦ditto. No plastic?? And on and on ad infin.
      A VERY complex opā€¦cereal and milk.šŸ˜‚

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 1, 2022

        Your Ukrainian based bread has become toast.

        Qatar spokesperson this morning on R5 insisted ‘everybody is welcome’.

        A Ukrainian helicopter has attacked Russian oil depot.

        1. Everhopeful
          April 1, 2022

          +1
          Attack on oil depot = we are all toast.
          Make ready the white stallions. Shine up the armour.
          Sharpen the swords.
          Our brave leaders ride out at dawn tomorrow.
          Alone!
          Their war.

    3. anon
      April 1, 2022

      Mr Moneysavingexpert “Nobody could have my mailbag and not feel fundamentally depressed at the moment.”

      “Not in room not in the deal”. The electorate & contributing workers have been excluded for a long time and are just marked as bagholders, throughout the world.

      Toothless regulators, laws that only are applied if the “ruling elite” wish too. Its as if we have been sold down the river. But by whom and for how much we will be prevented from finding out.

  10. wanderer
    April 1, 2022

    It’s a grim outlook. I can’t help believing that it need never have come to this. Wacky policies on climate change, Covid. Wasteful spending on vanity projects. Virtue signalling (including in foreign policy eg. Ukraine). The woke agenda. Immigration. Not capitalising on Brexit. I could go on. In short, making lots of mistakes, farting around and taking the eye off the ball.

    Who has been in charge for the last 5-10 years?

    1. Sharon
      April 1, 2022

      Wanderer
      Who has been in charge for the last 5-10 years? Iā€™m beginning to realise, it hasnā€™t been the government. Increasingly, it seems WHO, UN or some other signed up to Global this or Global that organisation.

      1. Enrico
        April 1, 2022

        Sharon just look at the civil servants for your answer.

    2. Narrow Shoulders
      April 1, 2022

      That is indeed a good summation.

      Concentrating on minority interests (including “climate emergency” i.e. the weather) at the expense of those who voted for them. It will end in tears.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        April 1, 2022

        Indeed.

        I now have to tell my doctor if I am pregnant or not. (I’m a male and in any case I’m well past menopause !)

        This is as a result of Tory cowardice.

        The majority are now being openly offended at the behest of a tiny minority. We also don’t know when we’re eating meat that has been killed religiously, this at the behest of other minorities.

        A cost of living crisis, the highest tax rates in living memory, loony tunes spending and wall-to-wall woke.

        “Labour would be worse” (the only reason Tories got voted in) no longer cuts it and the next general election is going to be fought against a backdrop of grinding poverty that the Tories caused.

        This without the timed surprises Putin has planned for Boris.

  11. Shirley M
    April 1, 2022

    I am very worried too. I fear there will be many hospitalisations due to cold and hunger causing weakening of immune systems and leaving people open to covid, pneumonia, or worse. The NHS is supposedly permanently overwhelmed these days with delays and waiting lists growing longer.

    Does the government plan to reduce the population in this way? Ridding themselves of pensioners and the poor would provide more money for the 4* ‘guests’ and other virtue signalling.

  12. turboterrier
    April 1, 2022

    There is the old saying about putting your own house in order before anybody else’s. This government should try practicing it.
    The perception is that the government still wants to be seen as the big contributer on the world stage and as important as some think may be, not at the price we at home have to pay.
    We are surrounded by areas of society that are a disgrace in the way they are not being managed and it is costing us millions as the problems trying to be addressed are passed around from department to department. What money is thrown at them is never going to be enough. But all the time billions of taxpayers money is being wasted on grandiose projects that will run over time and over budget. What real value will they add to those being impacted the most by the current crisis.
    Please stop, have time out, rethink what is best for the people of this country and apply some real processes and planning.
    Every contributer to this site can see what and where the problems are as well as our host, I cannot believe we are in the minority but it would appear very much so that we are. Or we simply care more than others.

    1. SM
      April 1, 2022

      +10.

      I am getting seriously fed-up with the claims and/or aspirations to be ‘at the front of’, ‘the best in the world’, a ‘global champion/power’ – how about just aiming to do the best for the UK and its inhabitants, both permanent and temporary?

    2. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Turbo. A very good post. If the government just took a few suggestions from MP’S like John and ideas from real people on this diary then the UK could begin to truly prosper again. They are wasting a golden opportunity and a chance like they’ve had doesn’t come around too often. If we get another coalition then we all know sweet FA will get done.

  13. oldwulf
    April 1, 2022

    Sir

    I will avoid a comment about April Fool’s Day.

    One reason we are where we are is the apparent ineptitude of this Government and also of previous Governments. Using our taxes to buy its way out of trouble, although necessary, is not a good look. We are looking to Mr Johnson to sort it out. Self sufficiency in food and energy would be a good start.

    1. Ian Wragg
      April 1, 2022

      It’s not government ineptitude it’s design
      Rishi has his own page on WEF website, he is merely following orders.
      Impoverishing is necessary for the great reset.

      1. Everhopeful
        April 1, 2022

        + 100%

      2. Michelle
        April 1, 2022

        So it seems.
        I would say then that we are no longer an independent nation but have been steered towards global governance.
        This was of course laughed at and shouted down over the years as another loons conspiracy theory.
        So it must just be coincidence then.
        Quite a few serious writers are beginning to ask why so many of the theories they once enjoyed jeering at from their lofty positions, seem to be looking more like reality by the day.

        Surely there is a legal question here with regards to how and by who we are run?

        1. oldwulf
          April 1, 2022

          @Michelle

          Yep – we need to be run by our own Parliament/Government.

          We are not going to be friends with 100% of the world for 100% of the time. Presumably, that’s why we have the army, navy and air force. Self sufficiency in food and energy is important. It’s unfortunate we have to learn this the hard way.

      3. Donna
        April 1, 2022

        It increasingly looks like the chaos is deliberate …… “creative destruction” at work so that the chosen “solutions” can be implemented with the least resistance.

    2. Denis Cooper
      April 1, 2022

      I’ve already made one, in a letter to the Irish News:

      “It’s all very well playing harmless tricks on April Fools’ Day, but didn’t Claire Hanna go a little too far with this absurd claim:

      ā€œThe fact is that the protocol offers us an unrivalled opportunity to export into both the UK market and the EU market something that businesses on the rest of this island, or in Britain, will not be able to do.”

      Or does she really believe that businesses in Great Britain have ceased to export to the EU market?

      It was Michael Gove who kicked off this “best of both worlds” nonsense, followed by Brandon Lewis.

      1. acorn
        April 1, 2022

        Happens to be true Denis. Northern Ireland is currently in a unique position of being able to export to GB and the EU, virtually unconstrained by EU “third country” and WTO rules.

        “Britainā€™s loss has been Northern Irelandā€™s gain when it comes to post-Brexit trade with the Republic of Ireland. Newly published figures for the full first year of U.K.-Irish trade following Brexit confirm that cross-border commerce is surging on the island of Ireland, while imports from Britain have slumped. Northern Ireland exporters have emerged as the biggest winners, the Central Statistics Office research found. This reflects how some Irish firms traditionally reliant on imports from Britain switched supply chains last year to firms in Northern Ireland.” (Politico)

        1. Denis Cooper
          April 1, 2022

          What is true is that companies in Great Britain do not have completely unfettered access to the EU market. But that is not what she is saying, she is saying that they have no access at all. How then did they still manage to export goods worth about Ā£11 billion to the EU in January?

          https://www.statista.com/statistics/284750/united-kingdom-uk-total-eu-trade-in-goods-by-trade-value/

          As to the value of that completely unfettered access to the EU market, when the UK was in the EU the value of the Single Market was something like 1% of UK GDP, and to put that in some kind of context the economy of Northern Ireland grew by 1.5% in the third quarter of last year:

          https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59981101

        2. Denis Cooper
          April 1, 2022

          And if you are prepared to rely on Politico, acorn, there is a reference in this quite recent comment:

          https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/02/13/getting-rid-of-the-budget-deficit/#comment-1299433

          “… the EUā€™s estimate should adjusted to about 2% without an FTA, about 1% with an FTA.

          Which is close to the estimates provided to the German government by the ifo institute in 2017:

          https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-even-worst-case-brexit-will-be-bearable-for-eu/

          ā€œā€¦ with a comprehensive free trade deal between the EU and the U.K., the study predicts a long-term output loss ā€¦ of ā€¦ 0.6 percent for the U.K. ā€¦ where the U.K. and the EU ā€¦ fall back on World Trade Organization rules, the study predicts the U.K. economy would lose 1.7 percent of economic output over the long-term ā€¦ ā€

          So, avoiding tariffs worth 1.1% of GDP, avoiding non-tariff barriers worth 0.6% of GDP.

          1. acorn
            April 1, 2022

            Fortunately Denis, Northern Ireland is not currently suffering from Brexit like GB.

            Brexit blamed as UK misses out on global trade rebound. Britainā€™s 14 per cent fall in goods exports stands in contrast to 8.2 per cent rise for the rest of the world. The UK has become a less trade-intensive economy, which is expected to knock out 4 per cent of its productivity over the next 15 years, according to the OBR Ā© Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

            The above is behind a paw-wall but you may get one shot at it https://www.ft.com/content/021c629d-5853-4111-9600-ab5f0eb65a35

          2. Denis Cooper
            April 1, 2022

            Why should I believe what the OBR says when I know that:

            “It is a general rule that foreign sources, rather surprisingly including those in the EU itself, come up with much lower numbers for the economic impact of EU membership than UK sources, including the Treasury, and of course there is a political reason for that.”

  14. Old Albion
    April 1, 2022

    I’m sick of hearing about the Govs ‘Ā£350 help with energy bills’ I live in a Band e bungalow so don’t qualify for the Ā£150 one-off council tax rebate.
    The Ā£200 payment apparently coming in Autumn, is a loan to be paid back over five years. It is NOT a gift.
    Remove VAT now and EVERYONES bills will reduce by 5%. Not much it’s true, but simple and straightforward.
    Then get fracking……………..

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Old Albion. Get fracking, mining and drilling but make it clear that first and foremost it’s for the benefit of the UK first.

      1. Timaction
        April 1, 2022

        Indeed. It’s as obvious as the nose on our faces that our Country is not ready or wanting or affording Bunter’s net zero aspirations. He wants to ban our ICE and gas boilers. I read this week that electric vehicles being driven in the UK need to travel over 70,000 miles before they break even on their CO2 footprint. Then there is the issue of extracting various precious minerals like copper, cobalt and lithium (child miners and limited resource) before we even look at there cost and charging infrastructure. We’re still importing coal from Russia and fracked gas from Qatar and USA when we could drill, frack and mine our own saving the travel CO2 footprint. No votes in this very special kind of stupid policy.

  15. Sea_Warrior
    April 1, 2022

    R5L gave a depressing summary of everything that its going up in price today. The timing of these increases is such that the government will find it hard to sort out the problems before the next election. While some of the blame can be laid at the door of Labour, the Conservatives have held power for over a decade, pursuing wrong policies, showing a lack of strategic appreciation, and just being plain lazy. Cameron, May, Johnson: hang your heads in shame. Today may be April 1st, but none of this is funny.

    1. rose
      April 1, 2022

      Don’t forget the part played by Ed Davey as Energy Secretary in the Coalition, the Liberal who was paid by the Chinese. It wasn’t just Ed Miliband and Mrs May. And the Shadow Energy Secretary, Barry Gardiner, was paid even more by the Chinese. So now we have no nuclear power to speak of, and are buying ever more Chinese turbines and panels. Who makes the heat pumps?

  16. hefner
    April 1, 2022

    Why is JR-M, the Minister for Brexit Opportunities, urging the PM to further extend the grace period on imports from the EU thatā€™s due to end in July? Are 18 months not enough for the UK to set-up proper checks on imports? Checks on imports from the UK were introduced by the EU in January 2020.
    Is it really the best that ā€˜Global Britainā€™ can do?

    1. Shirley M
      April 1, 2022

      Easy answer: EU appeasement. Keeping the EU happy is the priority, even though the EU have lowered food standards, we will allow in everything and anything from the EU without the slightest inconvenience to EU business. UK exporters to the EU? Whatever the EU demand is OK with our government, even if the EU ban everything. The government may make a fuss (lip service), but nothing will be done.

      1. Denis Cooper
        April 1, 2022

        Usually the government doesn’t even make a fuss. In this case I would question why the EU has decided that goods coming from the UK now need to be carefully checked before they are allowed in when for nearly three decades there were no such routine checks because the UK had passed the necessary laws to implement EU Single Market laws, and so far those EU-derived laws have just been carried over. If/when UK regulations start to diverge from the EU regulations that will be a different situation and the EU could have good reason to apply more intense checks, but so far they look like the “arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on international trade” condemned in Article 7.4 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

      2. MFD
        April 1, 2022

        Hence, my policy of leaving eu products on the supermarket shelf.
        I will do without if I cannot find an alternative that is British.
        My money, my decision !

    2. Nottingham Lad Himself
      April 1, 2022

      I wonder how many more job titles like that there will be?

      “Motivator-in-Chief for Chocolate Teapot Salespersons”?

      “President Of The Saharan Water Sports Association”?

      1. miami.mode
        April 1, 2022

        How about Minister for Drought (Denis Howell) as appointed by Labour government in 1976 who, according to reports, was told to preform a rain dance for the nation. Apparently it worked!

      2. Sea_Warrior
        April 1, 2022

        There it is again: the endless sneering of the UK-hating, left-winger.

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          April 1, 2022

          Stop being so silly.

          What “opportunities”?

          I hate brexit precisely because it has holed my country below the water line.

    3. Denis Cooper
      April 1, 2022

      I read about that in Wednesday’s Times, which said in its article:

      “Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, is understood to be in favour of a permanent relaxation on checks, not just on goods arriving from the EU but also from other countries, arguing that they should be done only on an ā€œat-riskā€ basis.”

      And I sent in this very brief letter, which they chose not to publish.

      “When Jacob Rees-Mogg proposes that checks on imported goods should be done only on an ā€œat-riskā€ basis then he is merely following Article 7.4 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which came into force in February 2017, and the EU and its member states should do the same.”

      I appended the relevant part of the agreement:

      https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/L/940.pdf&Open=True

      “ARTICLE 7 RELEASE AND CLEARANCE OF GOODS

      4 Risk Management

      4.1 Each Member shall, to the extent possible, adopt or maintain a risk management system for customs control.

      4.2 Each Member shall design and apply risk management in a manner as to avoid arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on international trade.

      4.3 Each Member shall concentrate customs control and, to the extent possible other relevant border controls, on high-risk consignments and expedite the release of low-risk consignments. A Member also may select, on a random basis, consignments for such controls as part of its risk management.

      4.4 Each Member shall base risk management on an assessment of risk through appropriate selectivity criteria. Such selectivity criteria may include, inter alia, the Harmonized System code, nature and description of the goods, country of origin, country from which the goods were shipped, value of the goods, compliance record of traders, and type of means of transport.”

    4. X-Tory
      April 1, 2022

      I agree that the suggestion that we should yet again delay the import checks – or even abandon them, as JRM seems to be suggesting! – is appalling and idiotic, as it places our producers at a disadvantage compared to their foreign (EU) competitors. What sort of TRAITOR would do this???

      The EU has imposed checks on our exporters so we MUST do the same to theirs or there is no ‘level playing field’. Helping our producers is the TOP priority, as they are employers and contributors to the UK economy. If importers are not yet ready for these checks after all this time then clearly they will *never* be ready, so forget them – they are only helping our EU enemies anyway.

      The whole point of Brexit was to benefit Britain, and that means BRITISH COMPANIES. Giving EU companies an unfair advatage is madness and treason. Given JRM’s alleged stance I am really wondering where the rest of the supposed Tory Brexiteers stand on this. Are ANY of them genuine patriots?

      1. Denis Cooper
        April 1, 2022

        Well, my September 16 comment that I referenced below:

        https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/09/16/we-need-more-electricity/#comment-1260196

        concluded thus:

        “Personally I would go beyond that and complain to the WTO about the unnecessary checks and controls that France and Ireland are imposing on our food and drink exports even though so far we are still operating to the same EU standards, in defiance of Article 7 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement:

        https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/09/14/bus-travel/#comment-1259639

        Until we materially diverge from EU standards there is no objective justification for applying checks which were not applied when we were in the EU and its Single Market, and doing so is ā€œarbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on international tradeā€.”

        But the UK government was not complaining then and is even less likely to complain now because with the war in Ukraine this would not be seen as a good time to upset our EU friends and partners, whether over the unfair way that they are treating our exports or over the ridiculous NI protocol.

        1. X-Tory
          April 1, 2022

          What on earth are you talking about? Firstly, THE EU ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS OR PARTNERS. They are our ENEMIES. They hate us and are trying to harm us in every way they can, from Northern Ireland to exports to financial services. And secondly THEY have recently lodged a complaint against US at the WTO, so either they do not believe that such a complaint will upset relations between them and us or they do not care (so why should we?).

          Furthermore, making complaints is just childish whinging. We need to take UNILATERAL ACTION. We need to scrap the Protocol and impose stringent checks on imports from the EU. That would be standing up for Britain. But of course, as we sadly know, this government of traitors, cowards and cretins will never defend the British interest.

        2. Denis Cooper
          April 1, 2022

          The government sees them as our friends and partners.

          The government should start by publicly complaining about the unreasonable behaviour of the EU, and only then if necessary move on to some kind of action; otherwise the world will not understand why the government is taking the action, and that could easily have undesirable knock on effects.

    5. Denis Cooper
      April 1, 2022

      From last September:

      https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/09/16/we-need-more-electricity/#comment-1260196

      “Off topic, a sensible contribution from Lord Moylan this morning, pointing out that just because we have left the EU that does not necessarily mean we should impose new checks on goods we import from them … “

  17. Roy Grainger
    April 1, 2022

    The world price of energy has gone up so UK bills have gone up. You call for the government to “do something” about it via VAT reductions or whatever. Literally all they can do is hand out money in various ways to the bill payers, money that the bill payers will have to then provide to the government in other ways so defeating the object.

    1. formula57
      April 1, 2022

      @ Roy Grainger – true of course but in saying so you mar the comforting illusion held by the many too many that action by government can wash away all the ills of the world.

      I agree with Sir John: I want more done. So far I have had only a leaflet from which I see that I miss out on a council tax rebate of Ā£150.

    2. Bill B.
      April 1, 2022

      And why has the world price of energy gone up, Roy? This government has pursued a policy of aggravating tension in Eastern Euope, and that has contributed to driving up energy prices. In my opinion, governments also need NOT to do things: just get out of the way, and let countries and businesses trade peacefully wherever they can at the best prices they can. I thought this was called economic liberalism, and used to be considered a good thing.

  18. Donna
    April 1, 2022

    I’m not one of Sir John’s constituents, but I appreciate the effort he is making to instil some common sense into the arrogant, authoritarian and completely incompetent bunch of fools called “the Government.”

    If, over the last 2 shambolic years, they were attempting to drive the economy over a cliff and take living standards back to the ’50s, they couldn’t have done a better job of it.

    They appear to be complete in hock to extremist “Green” Charity-Quangos and lobby groups; are terrified of the BBC/C4/Sky calling them names; and are pushing Socialist policies which the likes of Corbyn and McDonnell could only dream of.

    Sunak’s Spring Statement did nothing or next-to-nothing for the vast majority of people who simply can’t afford the increases in bills which are coming their way, thanks primarily to the Eco Loons who have dismantled our energy resources/security over the past decade.

    There is nothing Conservative about this Government.

    1. Shirley M
      April 1, 2022

      +100 Donna

    2. SM
      April 1, 2022

      Ditto.

    3. oldwulf
      April 1, 2022

      @Donna

      …… and the BBC is lecturing us on how to save money.
      You couldn’t make it up.

      1. oldwulf
        April 1, 2022

        BBC News – Money saving tips: How to budget as energy bills rise
        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60914889

      2. Donna
        April 1, 2022

        I saved Ā£135 or thereabouts a year by cancelling my BBC Poll Tax. I recommend it.

        1. Mark B
          April 1, 2022

          +1

      3. Mark B
        April 1, 2022

        Best way to save money would be to stop paying the Telly Tax.

    4. Timaction
      April 1, 2022

      +1. It’s just become very visible in peoples every day costs and bills, therefore disposable income or poverty. I wonder who they’ll blame at the next and ongoing elections?

    5. anon
      April 1, 2022

      Of course if the government scrapped the tv licence tax ?
      No cold winds of reality for the cossetted BBC. Why would that be?

  19. Nigl
    April 1, 2022

    I have zero sympathy for those that have tried to link Sunakā€™s wife to Russian investments but what sticks in my throat is a succession of very wealthy smug politicians who will never have to make the choice of food or heating appearing on the media to tell us (having of course caused the problems) wringing their hands that they are doing every they can, not answering, trying to change the narrative etc.

    Itā€™s like an arsonist starting the fire and then seeking praise for trying to put it out.

    ā€˜Let them eat cake. Whereā€™s that tumbrel?ā€™

    1. Mickey Taking
      April 1, 2022

      I predict come the next GE all parties will bring out the phrase ‘they are doing everything they can’ as a reminder on the dismissive remark at the time of worldwide upheaval, energy cost and pandemic.

    2. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Nig1. I totally agree. Labour pushed tge government to spend more and more on the Covid farce abd now habe the cheek to moan about finances. Same with the ridiculous scenario with energy. They are all to blame for this mess. There’s the USA pumping out gas and oil like it’s going out of fashion and they must be laughing their heads off thinking about all the resources we have and yet leaving it in the ground and paying an arm and a leg for others to produce what we need. It’s a bloody disgrace.

    3. Mickey Taking
      April 1, 2022

      …tried to link ? – her 1% of the company is worth about Ā£400m.
      Nice dividend free interest !

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 2, 2022

        tax free interest…

  20. oldtimer
    April 1, 2022

    The Johnson government is incompetent. It’s misguided addiction to net zero is causing economic misery to millions for no discernable benefit, but very discernable and significant costs and waste. It is clear it has thrown billions at the NHS, an organisation out of control. Johnson himself appears in denial about unacceptable behaviour in No 10 during lockdown. Tory MPs are incapable of grasping the reality of their current problems or, it seems, of doing anything about them.

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      April 1, 2022

      We had the BBC correspondent trying to sell us heat pumps yesterday. He was jumping around with glee like Johnny Ball used to on a kid’s science programme. Just a glib “They’re a low temperature system” and “They cost three times as much but who asks if their new kitchen will turn a profit ?”

      I’ve done the maths on both these and EVs. By the time you get to break even they will be up for replacement. So not green at all.

      A new kitchen (with energy efficient appliances) delivers satisfaction right away (and a decent profit too if you do it right and sell the house.) A heat pump is an ugly, expensive, noisy thing on the outside of your house and requires every room to be done up again after the floor boards have been pulled and the walls re-bored.

      Heat pumps (like EVs) are there to give the impression to people that they have choice when really they don’t. That they can only blame themselves if they get cold or can no longer drive.

      We are being made deliberately piss poor to hid the fact that fiat economics has failed and is about to collapse but that it is all planned and for our own good – to save the planet.

      1. miami.mode
        April 1, 2022

        I saw that NLA and it was conspicuous by the absence of important details. Heat pumps run at lower temperatures and ideally run continually preferably with underfloor heating or oversize radiators based on normal UK radiators. They also require a hot water tank, most probably with an immersion heater if a lot of hot water is required and also because it would appear that harmful bacteria can build up in the hot water if it doesn’t achieve a certain temperature.

    2. Timaction
      April 1, 2022

      Net zero. The facts. CO2 =0.04% of the atmosphere. The UK accounts for 1% of man made CO2 emissions. Therefore net zero will achieve a reduction of 0.0004% of the worlds CO2 at a cost of trillions to the English people. Virtue signalling gone mad!

  21. Nigl
    April 1, 2022

    And in other news 35% (increasing) of our coal comes from, guess where? Russia and no doubt Boris is refusing to license home production to claim (treating us as stupid again) that it moves us to net zero.

    Bankrupting us with not a gram of CO2 reduced, indeed the extra transport involved, probably increases it.

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      April 1, 2022

      Yet still not as stupid as importing bottled water by truck from France.

      That has to have been the marketing trick of the past two millennia.

      Why ever not Peckham Spring ???

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 1, 2022

        but it might be cleaner than water from Oxfordshire rivers….

      2. Fedupsoutherner
        April 1, 2022

        NLA. Yeah and Del Boy could have become a millionaire a lot quicker!

      3. graham1946
        April 1, 2022

        Or wood chips to burn.

  22. javelin
    April 1, 2022

    The clue to why you are freezing cold with expensive energy can be found when the climate scientists changed the the name from ā€œGlobal Warmingā€ to ā€œClimate Changeā€ and the Government carried on decommissioning power stations and shutting down oil, gas and coal extraction to save the world from over heating. The Government clearly didnā€™t follow the science.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Javelin. Very clever as climate change can be used whatever happens to warming or cooling. They must think we are stupid.

  23. Everhopeful
    April 1, 2022

    Freezing with snow today.
    Tory ideal weather.
    Wonder how the war against particulate spewing wood burners is going?
    Weā€™ll all be burning chair legs in the middle of the room at this rate.
    Clutching the ID cards they are still trying to push!!

  24. Dave Andrews
    April 1, 2022

    On the subject of NI, rather than introduce freeports (which will likely mostly benefit global multinationals), eliminate employer’s NI on companies that compete in the global marketplace.
    Wouldn’t it be better to encourage manufacturing and the technical jobs it creates, rather than treat it like it was some kind of social evil that must be suppressed with punitive taxation?
    Or is that too sensible?

    Is the increase in employer’s NI also a stealth way to reduce net public sector spending?

  25. Brian Tomkinson
    April 1, 2022

    I have lived through some bad ones but this is the worst government and parliament in my lifetime.

    1. X-Tory
      April 1, 2022

      Probably not worse than the Blair government, but equally as bad. It is certainly true that this government has not done ANYTHING right. They have screwed up on:
      Brexit,
      Covid,
      Immigration,
      Taxation and the economy in general,
      Education,
      Health,
      The courts,
      Free speech and woke oppression in general,
      Energy,
      Farming,
      Manufacturing,
      Defence,
      Foreign affairs.

      If you disagree and you think they have actually got sometyhing right then do let me know, ’cause I definitely can’t think of anything!!

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 1, 2022

        yes , but apart from all that, are they doing ok?

        1. glen cullen
          April 1, 2022

          brilliant

    2. glen cullen
      April 1, 2022

      I have to agree with you Brian….I see despair & despondency everywhere, what a legacy after a decade of tory government

  26. J Bush
    April 1, 2022

    On retiring the DWP data shows I put over 42 years contributions into the system. I have a very small company pension and to supplement this, I have a part-time job. The only rise in my income is about a Ā£6.00 week in the State pension. However, due to Sunak’s gerrymandering antics I will not keep all of this, as the tax on my little job will go up about 40%, on a total income which is about half of the National average income.

    Given the hike in energy costs and the ever increasing inflationary, I will probably, like millions of others, now struggle to manage, and sadly unlike this government, I do not have a money tree, I am just a leaf they rip off.

    Still I suppose this wicked government must find the funds from somewhere to help pay the cost of housing 10’s of 1,000’s of illegal migrants in 4* hotels, full board and the weekly pocket money?

  27. Martin
    April 1, 2022

    Well, we now have a government that pays farmers to grow weeds (Rewilding is the fancy name).
    No wonder, taxes and inflation are going up. If the supply of food drops, then prices go up.

    As President Reagan once said, “The Nine Most Terrifying Words in the English Language…. “.

    1. Timaction
      April 1, 2022

      …………….”I’m from the Government and here to help you!”

  28. Bryan Harris
    April 1, 2022

    It’s very true the government is not doing anything like enough to counteract the huge pressures on the cost of just living, never mind having a life.
    We can expect to see our quality of life descend as HMG continues to push their policies on us – policies that are driving inflation and higher costs, that have created this situation. Every single problem we have right now can be traced back to government – unfortunately not just this one.

    They throw us a few crumbs to persuade us they are trying to do better, but the crumbs disappear quickly, absorbed by the rising price of everything.

    With Brexit HMG had the opportunity to grow most of our own food, but DEFRA was not up to the job and the impulse to get things done was severely lacking, meaning that not only will food prices continue to rise, there will be shortages – But that is only one example of government failure.

    As shortages and costs continue to rise, we can expect to see our lives changed dramatically for the worse, and there is no point in trusting this government to make things better — They are the direct cause of this misery!

  29. alan jutson
    April 1, 2022

    You reap what you sow I am afraid.
    No need for us to purchase oil, gas and coal from the world market, we have our own, but chose not to use all of it, and I guess our Government at the time formed the contracts that allowed those products to go elsewhere.
    The contracts could have been written very, very differently, but the clowns were in charge of the circus, so the Government at the time did not.
    What they can do now, is scrap VAT and the Green levy from domestic fuels, and that could happen tomorrow, but it won’t.
    They could also scrap VAT on ALL insulation products, including double glazing, secondary glazing, replacement modern and efficient efficient gas, oil boilers, and hot water storage systems, but they haven’t !
    Why are the simple and speedy solutions so difficult for the Government to grasp ?
    The more we all spend on heating the less money there is to purchase other products.
    We are heading for a slowdown, and with even larger energy bills only 6 months away, it will not take long for the effects to be felt !

    1. graham1946
      April 1, 2022

      They also let the oil and gas be pumped out as quickly as possible with no regard to husbanding it for the future and used the taxes to run the dole queue, whilst Norway made a sovereign wealth fund and still has decades of oil and gas. All to make a quick profit for their mates. It’s happening again with unwarranted price increases making for windfall profits the companies never even dreamed of, whilst bankrupting the paying public and yet they do nothing, just let them keep milking the public. Tories just don’t care, money is their god and the workers must be separated from it.

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        April 2, 2022

        Norway’s people were wise enough never to elect politicians anything like the UK’s Tories.

        Like many others on the Mainland.

  30. agricola
    April 1, 2022

    A change of mindset at the treasury, reduce taxes markedly and bet on growth providing the tax shortfall.
    All ministries to be audited to remove waste. Immediately remove the 25% green levy on domestic fuel bills followed by the 5% VAT. Tell Boris that his energy plan is long overdue.

  31. Mickey Taking
    April 1, 2022

    up to 400 arriving every day c/o the Border Channel Ferry company which is still operating.

    1. glen cullen
      April 1, 2022

      I thought there was an government embargo in either talking about or disclosing the figuresā€¦.how dare you let us know that, that trade route is still open to all comers

      1. Mickey Taking
        April 2, 2022

        i thought we would worry about Border Force all being ‘let go’ with no warning. They have jobs for the foreseable future.

  32. BOF
    April 1, 2022

    This is all sounding suspicously like the late 70’s and the build up to the Winter of Discontent.

    Worse in fact as there was then no Climate Change Act or Net Zero to make matters far worse. And no Mrs Thatcher to come to the rescue.

    1. Nottingham Lad Himself
      April 1, 2022

      More like 1995.

      And it wasn’t about the ERM.

      That was just the parsley leaf garnish.

  33. JoolsB
    April 1, 2022

    ā€œI was pleased the government did offer a reduction of Council tax to many.ā€œ

    And what about those they didnā€™t John? Yet another socialist Chancellor taking with one hand and then dishing out to those he decides ā€˜worthyā€™ with the other. We are both retired, my husbands private pension being decimated by politicians and bankers in the ā€˜financial crashā€™, we get by on our state pensions and non-index linked private pensions whatā€™s left of them. Our total pensions are around or just below the national average income but considered too much to get any help with council tax which is now Ā£3,000 a year for which we get very little. We live in the middle of nowhere, there is no street lighting, no pavements and no such thing as a bus service so we need a car. Our home is old so no cavity wall insulation possible and we are conscious of how long the heating is on for but according to Sunak, we are deemed to be too well off to need any help because we live in a house higher than band D. Meanwhile our nearest neighbours, one a millionaire and the other both an heiress and on a generous public sector pension much higher than ours will benefit from the rebate. When John will our idiot politicians realise it is people who pay this unfair tax, not houses?

    Keep saying it but politicians, especially the two clueless and out of touch rich boys in charge of the nationā€™s purse strings God help us, cannot possibly have a clue what it is like to be worrying about bills on their Ā£84,000 plus salaries (plus an extra Ā£16,000 for sticking themselves on select committees), with a nice London apartment thrown in and council tax and unlimited energy bills and travel to work all put on expenses and paid for by the hard pressed taxpayer. As long as our self serving MPs pamper themselves so much with taxpayers money, they will never understand what itā€™s like for the rest of us let alone do anything about it.

  34. Stred
    April 1, 2022

    12 years ago I read the book by Prof MacKay Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air. Although I didn’t agree that gas would run out, it was probable that when China, with 3x the population of Europe and other developing countries started their dash for gas, then there would be shortages and costs would increase. It was also obvious from Germany’s experience that renewables would put the cost up.
    I insulated and draught proofed my Victorian house by using thin multifoils and subsidised fibreglass and my bills reduced to Ā£500 total. These increased to Ā£800 as more wind and biomass was introduced. My forecast bill is now Ā£1200, which is a lot more affordable than the Ā£2000+ forecast for most. Using the latest multifoils, it is possible to increase insulation value U of walls to modern standards.

    1. Mark
      April 1, 2022

      Unfortunately Building Standards doesn’t approve of such sensible solutions as I understand it. Neither does the EPC scheme which will only credit a filled cavity wall. There really does need to be a complete rethink.

      1. Stred
        April 1, 2022

        When I used multifoil with BBA approval, giving 0.26 U in our London house extension it was approved at plan stage and then an ignorant inspector visited and said “Oh no, not that stuff, we had to take it out of the new hospital”. They then tried to condemn it because the illustration on BBA literature showed brick on the outside and I had built render. I had to get a letter saying this was nonsense from BBA to see them off.
        I only need a tiny radiator to keep the extension warm in freezing weather. Today, I have calculations and approved test evidence but still would not risk telling the LA about it. The EPC assessment is ridiculous and subjective with inspectors making guesses about construction and coming to different grades on identical flats.

    2. Sea_Warrior
      April 1, 2022

      My bill is the same. Improving insulation is the easy fix. That’s the responsibility of the home-owner – not that for a government constantly spaffing billions in the direction of ‘the vulnerable’. I’ve probably bored you all with several mentions of gaskets – so I won’t mention gaskets again, even if renewing gaskets should be Job One.

  35. No Longer Anonymous
    April 1, 2022

    It is right that every candidate for next month’s election should be asked the question “Can a woman have a penis ?” with only a yes or no answer allowed.

    No arguments needed. Just answer the question.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      NLA. I’ve just found out we haven’t got a local election in our constituency. I’m gutted.

    2. X-Tory
      April 1, 2022

      I get very irritated by this childishly simplistic obsession with external features which can be altered by surgery. A woman who undergoes a ‘sex change’ operation will end up with the semblance of a penis, but that will not make her a man. I have explained before that the definition of a man is someone with a Y chromosome, and a woman is someone without a Y chromosone. The presence or absence of the Y chromosome is the determining feature. That is the scientifically accurate definition and one that is not susceptible to change through cosmetic surgery.

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        April 1, 2022

        You seem a bit hung up, on something that really only interests about 0.1% of the population.

        Apart from GB News, DM and DE headlines – which apparently send you into a froth – what material problems have these people caused you in life?

        Compared to Tory government?

        šŸ˜†šŸ˜†šŸ˜†šŸ˜†

    3. Mickey Taking
      April 1, 2022

      A stiff question that deserves better than a limp answer.

  36. Original Richard
    April 1, 2022

    ā€œItā€™s the economy, stupidā€, was Bill Clintonā€™s successful 1992 presidential campaign slogan against sitting president George H. W. Bush.

    The current government are totally ignoring this insight with higher taxes with no spending cuts and ever increasing costs from uncontrolled immigration, particularly the illegal immigration where thousands of young men of fighting age with no ID are invited into the country with 4 star hotel accommodation, Ā£40/week pocket money and the freedom to roam our streets as they please.

    But the worst damage to the economy, and as a consequence to our social cohesion and democracy, will be caused by the Governmentā€™s blind adherence to BEISā€™ Net Zero Strategy where, if it continues, we will end up with expensive electricity with smart meter controlled volatile pricing and rationing coupled with the forced take up of expensive and sub-optimal evs and heat pumps.

  37. MickN
    April 1, 2022

    I would sleep far more soundly in my bed if you Sir were Chancellor.

    1. SM
      April 1, 2022

      +100

  38. Ex-Tory
    April 1, 2022

    It’s the Bank of England’s job to keep inflation down to 2%.

  39. hefner
    April 1, 2022

    I had been wondering why the standing charges increase when itā€™s the wholesale fuel costs which have gone up. I got some explanations from my energy provider:
    ā€˜Two key reasons for this:
    – In addition to the increases in wholesale fuel costs, Ofgem made an industry change, in moving some residual network costs from a unit rate to a fixed amount. This has added about Ā£30 per household to the electricity standing charge this year, for network charges. These charges will be changed each year by the network companies, with the next review due for April 2023.
    – When energy suppliers fold, our energy system dictates that the remaining companies have to pick up the costs through the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process. Due to the ongoing energy crisis, 29 energy suppliers have so far had to cease trading, which has added Ā£68 per household to the standing charge across electricity and gas. This is Ofgemā€™s figure, not oursā€™.

    So from this information on the providerā€™s website, it looks like Ā£98 have been added to the annual cost of energy thanks to Ofgem asking the customers to ā€˜compensateā€™ for their (Ofgemā€™s) inability to properly regulate the market.
    I am still amazed to see from the CompaniesHouse website that most of the failing energy supplier companies had a ā€˜doubleā€™ structure separating their energy distribution activities (held within one registered company) from their financial activities (held within another one), which I guess has allowed them (their top people) not to be made financially responsible for their failure to have properly secure contracts.

    1. glen cullen
      April 1, 2022

      Thats quite shocking Hefner….ultimately our government ministers give authority, guidelines and instructions to its quangos, therefore the rise in energy ā€˜Standing Chargersā€™ can be directly attributed to our government

      1. rose
        April 2, 2022

        Glen, is capping seems the culprit?

        1. rose
          April 2, 2022

          Sorry, is capping the culprit?

    2. Mark B
      April 1, 2022

      Well done mate.

  40. rose
    April 1, 2022

    I hope you will press the case for removing the green levies, which would do most to lower gas bills. Good that you have got somewhere with VAT. Now we need to get it off everything. It is an EU tax and the proceeds went to the Commission, minus 20% for admin. The justification was that the continentals wouldn’t pay income tax but we always have.

    Yesterday, Andrew Rosindell said he understood the Government not wanting to remove VAT from gas bills because it would help better off people. This was an extraordinary admission, that the Conservative Party has become infected with the spite tax mentality. Everyone should benefit from tax cuts, not just poor people, and if too many people on lower incomes are removed from tax altogether, where is the accountability? No representation without taxation is to take things too far, but tax payers should not be in the minority, as Council Tax payers all too often are.

    1. Iain Moore
      April 1, 2022

      If green energy can’t be price competitive with energy prices at sky high levels then it never will. If it needs green subsidise now then it always will, and everything we have been told about it being cheaper than fossil fuels is a lie.

      1. anon
        April 1, 2022

        At today’s prices green energy, probably very competitive. I hear some are repaying subsidies and probably keeping some extreme prices down.

        Renewables are not fully developed in size or technology to meet energy demand, hence problems. They do mitigate importing of fossil fuel. Expensive fossil fuel & energy is a policy of choice. I reckon all by design.

        Buckle up car crash is imminent.

        1. anon
          April 1, 2022

          Next move will be – give multi billions to EDF. In other word more EU dependency .

        2. Mickey Taking
          April 2, 2022

          yep we had auto warning for some time …..the chips must be running slow.
          they are rushian’ to take our money.

  41. glen cullen
    April 1, 2022

    April Fool is dead and gone, and youā€™re the fool Boris for carrying onā€¦.with Net-Zero

    1. Mark B
      April 1, 2022

      glen

      It isn’t gone, it just lasts the full year. Especially with this circus, I mean government.

  42. glen cullen
    April 1, 2022

    The UK imported Ā£4 billion of Russian oil in 2021 ā€“ Ā£3 billion of refined oil and Ā£1 billion of crude oil; 8.2 million tonnes ā€“ according to Office for National Statistic.
    A third of all coal, 1.6 million tonnes and 25TWh gas imported from Russia
    No wonder thereā€™s a cost of living crisis with the energy decisions of this government over the past decadeā€¦.and whatā€™s this governments solution ā€“ import more wind turbines, solar panel in the sky

    1. miami.mode
      April 1, 2022

      The usual mealy mouthed drivel from the government, glen, whereby they say how much they are, quite rightly, assisting Ukraine with defensive weapons but at the same time bankrolling the Russians enabling them to wage this outrageous war.

  43. acorn
    April 1, 2022

    Why not let the deficit take the strain, it won’t hurt? The UK had a debt to GDP of 250% after the war, it slowly reduced it over four decades down to 50%. There is no need to increase taxation; or, increase interest rates. The latter will increase interest payments to savers; that will increase their spending power and help keep inflation up. It would be a good move to remove all the hundreds of tax deductions, allowances, rebates etc.

    BTW. Rishi has said that gross debt interest this year will be Ā£83 billion. JR mentioned interest on index linked gilts recently. Have a look at Chart A.8 in the following https://dmo.gov.uk/media/17938/drmr2223.pdf . The light grey bar; “Accrued uplift on indexed linked Gilts” and you will see what he was talking about.

    Gilts are the equivalent of social security benefits for insurance and pension funds; free money, as you can see in Chart A.9. We also give a lot of free money to overseas investors. Gilts do not fund government spending, but that’s another lecture.

    1. Denis Cooper
      April 2, 2022

      And fortunately we still have our own currency, which we allow to float against other currencies.

  44. Bryan Harris
    April 1, 2022

    GOVERNMENT INDUCED MISERY

    It’s very true the government is not doing anything like enough to counteract the huge pressures on the cost of just living, never mind having a life.
    We can expect to see our quality of life descend as HMG continues to push their policies on us – policies that are Ā driving inflation and higher costs, Ā that have created this situation. Every single problem we have right now can be traced back to government – unfortunately not just this one.

    They throw us a few crumbs to persuade us they are trying to do better, but the crumbs disappear quickly, absorbed by the rising price of everything.

    With Brexit HMG had the opportunity to grow most of our own food, but DEFRA was not up to the job and the impulse to get things done was severely lacking, meaning that not only will food prices continue to rise, there will be shortages – But that is only one example of government failure.

    As shortages and costs continue to rise, we can expect to see our lives changed dramatically for the worse, and there is no point in trusting this government to make things better — They are the direct cause of this misery!

    1. turboterrier
      April 1, 2022

      Bryan Harris
      Not just this one
      Oh so correct Bryan bang on the money
      Thanks to too many years of bad government decisions all dictated by party beliefs we have drifted along and are now in the middle of the perfect storm. Unless the whole of parliament wake up and get together and work to address all these issues a lot of people are going to be sunk without trace. We cannot go on being all things to all people its totally unsustainable.

    2. glen cullen
      April 1, 2022

      GOVERNMENT INDUCED MISERY – Spot on Bryan

  45. agricola
    April 1, 2022

    Dear SJR,
    Please explain to us all why UK gas and oil extracted from our fields, processed and distributed to the distribution companies, has to be subjected to the vagueries of World fuel prices. Why are the extraction and processing companies allowed to use our fuel to profit enormously at the expense of every UK citizen. I am inclined to ask what shareholdings do the members of our government have in the major oil and gas companies that deters them from approaching and rectifying this fuel payolla.
    I am not aware that US citizens are subjected to World market prices when buying their own fuel produced in their own territory.
    Combine the above with the crazy 25% green levy and 5% Vat extraction from UK users for the express purpose of subsidising windmills housed by the wealthy in an attempt to make erratic green power look competitive.
    To ice the cake consider all the tax rises and their impact, plus of course the lack of resolution over the NI Protocol that will cost big both financially and politically.
    Pleased to hear your efforts on GB News as I write this. Low tax, higher turnover, ergo greater tax revenue is the way forward for post Brexit UK.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      April 1, 2022

      Any chance you could provide a link for your GB News interview please John?

      Reply I will try and find it. Any reader of this site has no need to see the GB News item as I say the same things there as I write here! I think they are better in written form as I have enough time and space to set them out sensibly.

  46. miami.mode
    April 1, 2022

    Have just had a look at new VED rates for cars and it’s painfully obvious that they are trying to force people on to unaffordable electric cars or to make the cost of motoring prohibitively high even though millions rely on older cars to get to work. What is wrong with this government? The first chance to have a Conservative government in 30 years and they’ve blown it.

    1. Mark B
      April 1, 2022

      Do what I did, order a hybrid. Still bloody waiting though šŸ™

      1. miami.mode
        April 1, 2022

        MB, but I love my little only-for-fun 11 year old MX-5!

        1. Mark B
          April 2, 2022

          I’d hang on to that if I were you.

        2. Mike Wilson
          April 2, 2022

          We had a MX5 just for fun a few years ago. Ā£285 road tax as I recall it. Really bugged me as we only drove it a couple of thousand miles a year.

          1. glen cullen
            April 2, 2022

            Agree – The vehicle tax should be the same for everyone otherwise its social-engineering and thats just marxist

          2. Mickey Taking
            April 2, 2022

            +1 . . . .me too just loved it, but not next to lorries on motorways.

  47. turboterrier
    April 1, 2022

    Having to listen to a neighbour heavily subsidised by the tax payer going on about her energy bill she was rather then aback when I asked her “who introduced the Climate Change Act”?
    The reply? “What’s that got to do with it” Therein lies the problem. The snake oil salesman have more than earned their commission.
    Was the woman on the news crying on the oil sites blockade a candidate for a Bafta or what? WALOBs

    1. Mark B
      April 2, 2022

      You might like to ask her to breakdown the costs of her energy bill to see where her money goes.

      https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/media-and-campaigns/press-releases/12-customers/126-energy-bill-breakdown.html

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