Politics etc

[Techniquest]

remember for your english GCSE one its allowed not aloud.

I had to cancel my tour booking as my 'leccy bill in my flat was sky high, and credit crunch for me at the moment.

Just a thought, but turning stuff off at night and when not in use helps a lot. Which is why I'm always turning off lights when I'm not in the room, putting the computer on standby when it's being abandoned for longer than 5 minutes when it's on, turning it off as soon as I've finished with it...I also turn my phone charger off the second it's finished (or as close to that as possible), same with every other charger I use. The TV et al gets turned off at the wall when it's not being used in preference to standby which still uses plenty of electricity. I even unplug stuff at night just in case!

Not that I'm having a go, just a couple of ideas I use to save electricity. As a result, our electricity bill (well, we have a meter) is much smaller than it could be. Of course, with soaring energy prices it's still very expensive (£15 or more a week) and is set to go ever higher thanks to the government's lack of intervention to deal with it.


Mod note - This thread was split from the Spitfire thread

 

[class 313]

Not that I'm having a go, just a couple of ideas I use to save electricity. As a result, our electricity bill (well, we have a meter) is much smaller than it could be. Of course, with soaring energy prices it's still very expensive (£15 or more a week) and is set to go ever higher thanks to the government's lack of intervention to deal with it.

Don't blame the government. The credit crunch has been in sight for years and its unlucky that Labour are in the firing line now. Nothing much can really be done apart from helping the poorer family's get through the Winters who really wouldn't be able to cope otherwise.

 

[D306]

Nothing much can really be done apart from helping the poorer family's get through the Winters who really wouldn't be able to cope otherwise.

and those with very young children (me thinking mainly of my next door neighbours)

 

[Techniquest]

Well Brown is in the firing line in my eyes right now. Wasn't it he or one of his Labour minions who said the other day that the elderly are no longer to have grants for winter fuels? How are they supposed to keep warm in the winter and do everything else with the small pension most people get?

It is also up to the government to step in and stop these energy providers rising prices every couple of weeks. All the time we are bombarded with the news telling us the energy is rising by a previous unheard-of amount. As soon as they put it up, they do it again soon after.

They all moan at us all to stop using so much electricity, so we do. What do they then do? They moan their profits are down so they have to raise prices to keep their profits up!

I'm sorry, but these huge companies can afford to lose a bit of profit. The credit crunch is hitting us all, but rising energy prices are driving those below the poverty line even further under it.

EDIT: And all this talk they keep going on with about helping poorer families with insultation etc...It's all bulls**t to me, as they move the goalposts every few months. You qualify one day, then it takes them 6 months to even bother asking when they can come around to do their visit, then it takes them a further few months to churn it over (after telling you that you qualify for this and that, that someone will contact you to arrange when this can be installed) and then reject your application (making out you cancelled it!) on the grounds you don't qualify.

Now, how can one qualify for it one day but not the next when the circumstances are the same if not worse/more qualifying for the applicant? This is the situation we had with the Warm Front grant that the government goes on about. It's supposed to help low-income families to provide heating and insulation. It's now a year after our original application, when we qualified (and still do by the original requirements), but have now found out we don't qualify (after being told when they eventually visited us that we did and evidence being copied for that purpose) for it. So in my eyes Warm Front grants are a load of bulls**t.

Is it at all obvious that I have no faith in Labour doing anything right and that I'd rather see anyone but Labour win the next election? Is it obvious that I hate how Gordon Brown became PM without an election to bring him in?

 

[class 313]

Well Brown is in the firing line in my eyes right now. Wasn't it he or one of his Labour minions who said the other day that the elderly are no longer to have grants for winter fuels? How are they supposed to keep warm in the winter and do everything else with the small pension most people get?

It is also up to the government to step in and stop these energy providers rising prices every couple of weeks. All the time we are bombarded with the news telling us the energy is rising by a previous unheard-of amount. As soon as they put it up, they do it again soon after.

They all moan at us all to stop using so much electricity, so we do. What do they then do? They moan their profits are down so they have to raise prices to keep their profits up!

I'm sorry, but these huge companies can afford to lose a bit of profit. The credit crunch is hitting us all, but rising energy prices are driving those below the poverty line even further under it.

EDIT: And all this talk they keep going on with about helping poorer families with insultation etc...It's all bulls**t to me, as they move the goalposts every few months. You qualify one day, then it takes them 6 months to even bother asking when they can come around to do their visit, then it takes them a further few months to churn it over (after telling you that you qualify for this and that, that someone will contact you to arrange when this can be installed) and then reject your application (making out you cancelled it!) on the grounds you don't qualify.

Now, how can one qualify for it one day but not the next when the circumstances are the same if not worse/more qualifying for the applicant? This is the situation we had with the Warm Front grant that the government goes on about. It's supposed to help low-income families to provide heating and insulation. It's now a year after our original application, when we qualified (and still do by the original requirements), but have now found out we don't qualify (after being told when they eventually visited us that we did and evidence being copied for that purpose) for it. So in my eyes Warm Front grants are a load of bulls**t.

Is it at all obvious that I have no faith in Labour doing anything right and that I'd rather see anyone but Labour win the next election? Is it obvious that I hate how Gordon Brown became PM without an election to bring him in?

When supply's are dwindling its country's that are putting the prices up. How is the Government meant to stop that unless you want WWIII to kick off?

The fact is, this would of happened under any Government and you would be a fool to believe otherwise. By your logic you would have no faith in any Government.

 

[Techniquest]

Well, quite honestly I don't believe New Labour know how to run the country. Whether anyone else would be better I don't know.

Either way I'm still angry.

 

[class 313]

Well, quite honestly I don't believe New Labour know how to run the country. Whether anyone else would be better I don't know.

Either way I'm still angry.

You can be angry all you want. The fact is this is life and there isn't much you or the Government can do about it unless something drastic is done. A war may sound extreme but I can see it happening to stop fuel prices rising... I mean, the cold war is about to kick off again...

And saying New Labour cant run the country doesn't explain their 10 years of power.

 

[Techniquest]

You can be angry all you want. The fact is this is life and there isn't much you or the Government can do about it unless something drastic is done. A war may sound extreme but I can see it happening to stop fuel prices rising... I mean, the cold war is about to kick off again...

And saying New Labour cant run the country doesn't explain their 10 years of power.

I can see another war coming on too. Agreed that there's not much I or anyone can do really but I would like to see an end to the ridiculous amount of energy price increases.

It might not explain their 10 years of power, but not everyone is happy with Labour.

 

[thefab444]

And saying New Labour cant run the country doesn't explain their 10 years of power.

No it doesn't, it just explains how stupid the British electorate are on the whole.

 

[class 313]

I can see another war coming on too. Agreed that there's not much I or anyone can do really but I would like to see an end to the ridiculous amount of energy price increases.

It might not explain their 10 years of power, but not everyone is happy with Labour.

No because fools like you believe Labour are to blame and wont look at the bigger picture when it would happen under any government. They will soon see it will happen under the Tories if they get in next.

 

[Techniquest]

OK, no problem, just thought I'd share some suggestions with you. It is a PITA not having any bashing money, but 73136 will be about for a while yet so nothing to worry about there I'd say.

thefab442: It would appear the British voters can't see a bad thing when it stares them in the face.

class313: I'll conceed it could happen with a different government, but I still say New Labour could do something about the crisis in this country.

 

[class 313]

thefab442: It would appear the British voters can't see a bad thing when it stares them in the face.

class313: I'll conceed it could happen with a different government, but I still say New Labour could do something about the crisis in this country.

Care to say what they could do?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Thefab444:

The tour did use one little piece that isn't in regular use, the salisbury avoider freight curve, only used every sunday on one night voyager IIRC and the rare voyager diversions

Screams regular use to me.

 

[Pumbaa]

I'll conceed it could happen with a different government, but I still say New Labour could do something about the crisis in this country.

The main flaw in your argument is proved right there in your last three words.

This is a worldwide problem, and as soon as the general public realise that the better. Supply pull inflation is rising to astronomic levels because as a planet we have run into a brick wall. Growing population, bad weather, a failing worldwide economy and several wars are slowly pulling apart the mortar.

We are fortunate to be in the position we are. Had Thatcher not been so radical and done many unpopular things, our economy would have collapsed long ago. Her foresight to accommodate for a knowledge based economy did us a world of good. We had once hiccup (Black Wednesday) and bar from that, we've had it pretty good guided by a good Economist (Brown).

This problem was coming for a long time. Reason? - Well US Banks inventing money. Brown managed pretty darn well for 4 years to balance the UK economy and guide the EU into black books. Sadly as soon as he stepped up to the premiership, the US no longer had a fallback or stable mate to pull itself up on. I miss the good exchange rate :cry:

New Labour IMO have dealt with the situation far better than a Tory government could have done, but the outcome was always going to be the same. World wide crash. The situation we face we have never seen before since the 1920s - what you read and hear in the papers are just Economists and Accountants trying to 'talk' the economy up, as that's all Economics is, taking a gamble on the future. Guesswork.

Solutions for the UK? Switch to the Euro, drastically cut pay (in real terms, not nominal) and place tax cuts across the board (and so initiate a redistribution of wealth). Solutions for the world? Replace every currency and so abolish inflation temporarily, cut taxes to stimulate food growth and impose child policies (such as People's Republic of China) to try and combat exponential population growth.

And no I'm not booked on the tour. Back onto topic...

 

[class 313]

The main flaw in your argument is proved right there in your last three words.

This is a worldwide problem, and as soon as the general public realise that the better. Supply pull inflation is rising to astronomic levels because as a planet we have run into a brick wall. Growing population, bad weather, a failing worldwide economy and several wars are slowly pulling apart the mortar.

We are fortunate to be in the position we are. Had Thatcher not been so radical and done many unpopular things, our economy would have collapsed long ago. Her foresight to accommodate for a knowledge based economy did us a world of good. We had once hiccup (Black Wednesday) and bar from that, we've had it pretty good guided by a good Economist (Brown).

This problem was coming for a long time. Reason? - Well US Banks inventing money. Brown managed pretty darn well for 4 years to balance the UK economy and guide the EU into black books. Sadly as soon as he stepped up to the premiership, the US no longer had a fallback or stable mate to pull itself up on. I miss the good exchange rate :cry:

New Labour IMO have dealt with the situation far better than a Tory government could have done, but the outcome was always going to be the same. World wide crash. The situation we face we have never seen before since the 1920s - what you read and hear in the papers are just Economists and Accountants trying to 'talk' the economy up, as that's all Economics is, taking a gamble on the future. Guesswork.

Solutions for the UK? Switch to the Euro, drastically cut pay (in real terms, not nominal) and place tax cuts across the board (and so initiate a redistribution of wealth). Solutions for the world? Replace every currency, abolish inflation temporarily, cut taxes to stimulate food growth and impose child policies (such as People's Republic of China) to try and combat exponential population growth.

And no I'm not booked on the tour. Back onto topic...

Very well said!

I agree sooner people stop blaming Labour for all of this the better. It makes me so angry when people say 'Oh but Labour have caused this...'. NO! No they haven't and as said before you'd be foolish to actually believe this is the case. Fair enough Brown needs to come out and say he cannot do anything about it and we will just have to grit our teeth and bear the rough times as best as possible.

 

[Pumbaa]

Very well said!

I agree sooner people stop blaming Labour for all of this the better. It makes me so angry when people say 'Oh but Labour have caused this...'. NO! No they haven't and as said before you'd be foolish to actually believe this is the case. Fair enough Brown needs to come out and say he cannot do anything about it and we will just have to grit our teeth and bear the rough times as best as possible.

Aye - if Brown wanted to win the next election, he needs to tell the public that he is the best man for the job, and can guide us through this pretty safely. Better than Cameron by far - the Tory approach would ruin us for years, and potentially cripple our already dangerous corporation tax position...

 

[class 313]

Aye - if Brown wanted to win the next election, he needs to tell the public that he is the best man for the job, and can guide us through this pretty safely. Better than Cameron by far - the Tory approach would ruin us for years, and potentially cripple our already dangerous corporation tax position...

And of course give money to the rich and leave the poor, poorer...

 

[Pumbaa]

And of course give money to the rich and leave the poor, poorer...

Well yes there is that - but everyone knows that's what happens with a Conservative Govt.. :grin::grin:

Charles Kennedy anyone?

 

[Techniquest]

Lots of good points there makstaylor, but I don't have the energy to reply right now.

I just hope right now this recession ends soon!

EDIT: I'll quickly add that I concur with the Conservatives ruining this country further with their seemingly obsessive idea of making the rich richer and the poorer, well, bankrupt.

 

[Pumbaa]

I just hope right now this recession ends soon!

No chance - this is not just a recession, (it's not a M and S sensuously sweet recession either) its total meltdown. I'll lay money on north of 7 years before we exit this trough of the Economic Cycle.

 

[Techniquest]

As much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right. Not a nice thought though...

 

[Pumbaa]

Aye - it's not. Rather morbid. I sold my car last week to try and cut down on expenditure. As with all of us, money is hard to come by.

The sooner we are realistic (as a country, world etc) and stop talking the economy up and doing more damage, we will be better off at the end of all this.

 

[Techniquest]

The most sensible thing I've heard out of anybody with regards to the current economic climate.

Personally I'm going to have to do things like selling my PS2 (as much as I dislike the idea) and the games to go with it, purely to help make ends meet. After that, I have no idea how I'll keep going.

 

[class 313]

WWIII anyone? A nice way to help >=)

 

[Guinness]

Charles Kennedy anyone?

I do miss the days where The Sun and there attempts at making up Puns for his Drink Problem!

 

[djw1981]

When supply's are dwindling its country's that are putting the prices up. How is the Government meant to stop that unless you want WWIII to kick off?

The fact is, this would of happened under any Government and you would be a fool to believe otherwise. By your logic you would have no faith in any Government.

But other countries used the last ten years of good economic results to reduce national debt and thus they can borrow through the credit crunch. We spent the last 10 years increasing our national debt to unprecedented levels - almost 42% of GDP. And that is before the economy enters recession, tax income goes down and benefit expenditure rises. thus with higher expenditure and reduced income, the government must borrow more, and service these large debts.

The reason for these debts was the British desire for low tax and high public spending on services. High public expenditure must be financed somehow, and PFI is just like a mortgage - it just prolongs the payback time, it doesn't cancel the spending.

The logical conclusion of this is Britain going bankrupt. This will be avoided somehow though. But may mean that public spending will have to be cut.

 

[Techniquest]

Well, Herefordshire Council likes wasting money on fancy-looking things and not what is actually needed.

For instance, last year (or so) they put up new lights on the bridge over the river on the A49. I personally didn't think they needed replacing but merr. Anyway, these lights are no better than the old ones. And there's loads of them. The bridge is still too dark at night time, which leaves pedestrians using it feeling unsafe. What's the moan I want to have?

These lights cost £35,000 each. This is council tax money wastage, as the lights don't do their job properly and look, quite honestly, stupid compared to the rest of the city. Then there's the maintenance cost of each of these lights, which break down too often.

All the while there remain poorly maintained roads which need sorting out, broken lights which don't get fixed, lights put up where they're not needed and cause a nuisance to the local residents (the one that did just that by my house got permanently switched off and eventually removed) and the councilers (wrong spelling, I know, but merr) waste the rest on seemingly everything but what the residents of this county want.

I honestly don't know why we have to pay so much council tax in this county. It's not as if we've got anything to show for it...Well, except for an inept council (and no, I'm not the only one who thinks so. No week goes by without further complaints about the council's poor efforts to run the county in the local papers and elsewhere)...:roll:

 

[FusionRail]

We would be f***ed if WWIII broke out. Our Armed Forces are frankly crap, and we have no way of looking after ourselves, such as everyone having to grow their own food. They have large Vegetable patches in a block of flats you know.

Also I cant see chav's complying with rationing, somehow.

Take from the rich, and the poor. Robyn Hoodie.

 

[class 313]

Yes because that's why are Army is one of the best in the world and have one of the best secret services.

 

[Guinness]

We would be f***ed if WWIII broke out. Our Armed Forces are frankly crap, and we have no way of looking after ourselves, such as everyone having to grow their own food.

How have you reached that conclusion? :-?

 

[FusionRail]

Yes because that's why are Army is one of the best in the world and have one of the best secret services.

The Army may be good, but don't forget, they are all out in Iraquistan. We have nowhere near the size of navy/airforce we had back in WWII, and without those the Army can't get anywhere. We no longer have an empire, we are no longer threatening.

Don't forget, most our food/supplies come from China and such like.

Also another reason we would be jiggered is if we have people like you in charge.