Unacceptable

[bigmarco]

Joking aside ... you're absolutely RIGHT, Stevie ... it's a bloody disgrace ... and, as has already been pointed out - by you, Marco and others - a significant portion of the blame rests with the bods responsible for mismanaging this country's economy ... the politicians ... shrewd, yet incompetent, investment bankers like Fred Badwin &c. plus, of course, the omnipresent super-rich and powerful - NONE of whose extravagant lifestyles will these grossly over-inflated price rises make one whit of a difference to.

Hit the nail on the head Arthur. They are largely responsible for the mess we're in but they're never asked to pick up the tab.
They'll still be collecting the bonuses and we all sit back and do nothing.
Apathy Rules.

[imagine]

Joking aside ... you're absolutely RIGHT, Stevie ... it's a bloody disgrace ... and, as has already been pointed out - by you, Marco and others - a significant portion of the blame rests with the bods responsible for mismanaging this country's economy ... the politicians ... shrewd, yet incompetent, investment bankers like Fred Badwin &c. plus, of course, the omnipresent super-rich and powerful - NONE of whose extravagant lifestyles will these grossly over-inflated price rises make one whit of a difference to.

absolutely right has it not always been the case that the stinking wealthy rich rake it in from everyone under them and all the way to the bottom, and why do they get away with it, because if you got so much dosh you can get away with murder

[fred]

You are absolutely right Stevie. But that is the price we all have to pay for the utilities being privatised all them years ago.
Sadly the Elderly and the poor are of no interest to all the major funds that now own the shares. Profits and dividends are all that matters

I used to get extremely frustrated and angry with these type of price hikes as winter approached..
After thinking seriously about it, the only way I could manage to hedge against this kind of silly inflation was to invest directly into oil and gas company shares.

For me it was a bloody good strategy.. Forget keeping up with inflation!! Profits were paying my bills.
Sometimes its best to just go with the flow instead of trying to swim against the tide.

[stevewool]

October 20th join the march.

what march

[stevewool]

I used to get extremely frustrated and angry with these type of price hikes as winter approached..
After thinking seriously about it, the only way I could manage to hedge against this kind of silly inflation was to invest directly into oil and gas company shares.

For me it was a bloody good strategy.. Forget keeping up with inflation!! Profits were paying my bills.
Sometimes its best to just go with the flow instead of trying to swim against the tide.

do you worry about your heating bills now Fred

[RickyR]

A lot of people are heading down the self sufficient route with rain water collectors, solar panels, wind turbines and vegetable patches.

I certainly couldn't afford to return to the UK at the moment, fuel here is merely 20pence a litre, which tells you something about taxation in the UK.

[lastlid]

for many,, already that standard of living is eroding in front of their eyes, this is is just another blow to them, and bit by bit there will be more dropping to the bottom,

it just cant go on this way indefinatly without a big bang

Didn't get a chance to reply to this. What will probably "give" is house prices.

[lastlid]

I used to get extremely frustrated and angry with these type of price hikes as winter approached..
After thinking seriously about it, the only way I could manage to hedge against this kind of silly inflation was to invest directly into oil and gas company shares.

For me it was a bloody good strategy.. Forget keeping up with inflation!! Profits were paying my bills.
Sometimes its best to just go with the flow instead of trying to swim against the tide.

Oil, touch wood, has kept me afloat. But there are the bad times too. The oil industry isn't always buoyant. Oil is a fickle commodity.

[imagine]

Didn't get a chance to reply to this. What will probably "give" is house prices.

house prices are already suffering, i don't know about the rest of scotland and uk, but houses are not selling, those that do are sold at much less than their value a few year ago,those with mortgages are struggling to pay because of the increases in living costs,and find they are unable to sell to downgrade to a more affordable property and loan,and it can only get worse

[lastlid]

house prices are already suffering, i don't know about the rest of scotland and uk, but houses are not selling, those that do are sold at much less than their value a few year ago,those with mortgages are struggling to pay because of the increases in living costs,and find they are unable to sell to downgrade to a more affordable property and loan,and it can only get worse

Exactly. As people are paying out more on food and utility bills etc, they have less of their income to spend on housing.

[les_taxi]

This is what happens when you relinquish your empire,We were better off when we ruled most of the world-now we are becoming an insignificate nation who will eventually have no real power and be begging for scraps off the Yanks!

[lastlid]

This is what happens when you relinquish your empire,We were better off when we ruled most of the world-now we are becoming an insignificate nation who will eventually have no real power and be begging for scraps off the Yanks!

Very true.

[imagine]

Very true.

comming to you soon brittain the a 3rd world country, a country going to the

[Terpe]

Interesting that energy prices are ever increasing. Especially gas.
I wonder why? Especially as the amount of gas our planet still can offer is just huge. It seems to me that as new sources are discovered then prices should be coming down.

[Dedworth]

comming to you soon brittain the a 3rd world country, a country going to the

The 3rd World is here now thanks to Labours open door immigration policy and the inability of the present Government and the farcical UKBA to get the mess sorted out.

[lastlid]

Interesting that energy prices are ever increasing. Especially gas.
I wonder why? Especially as the amount of gas our planet still can offer is just huge. It seems to me that as new sources are discovered then prices should be coming down.

Unfortunately as new sources are coming on stream there are also sources being decommissioned and thus spent. Many fields that have been serving us for some time aren't as bountiful as they once were. Production rates have peaked in many UK fields.

There was a TV program on this recent one - Indefatigable:

http://www.shell.co.uk/home/content/...le/background/

Also there is a tendency for only the more marginal and more expensive to drill for and develop fields, to be discovered these days, as in the main the easiest and cheapest have been discovered and developed already. A bit like picking the lowest fruit from the tree first.

Frack gas will help, if only it can be drilled for and extracted safely. And hydrates are tricky as we said before.

Also things like oil revenue tax play a part - George Osbournes Brown Field Allowance and stuff like that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...iness-19515932

[Dedworth]

I just heard on the radio NPower have jumped on the bandwagon with a 9% increase.

Topical viewing here of how the CEO's keep their snouts in the trough and the gravy train rolling.

They are all members of each others remuneration committees so they rubber stamp their mates obscene wages and non performance bonus's. I think there's recently been a bit of noise from the shareholders but too many shares are held in funds run by city slicker fat cats who carry on trousering their large pay cheques.

[andy222]

And I heard today the government want more competiton and you know what that means. More fat cats.

[lastlid]

I just heard on the radio NPower have jumped on the bandwagon with a 9% increase.

Topical viewing here of how the CEO's keep their snouts in the trough and the gravy train rolling.

They are all members of each others remuneration committees so they rubber stamp their mates obscene wages and non performance bonus's. I think there's recently been a bit of noise from the shareholders but too many shares are held in funds run by city slicker fat cats who carry on trousering their large pay cheques.

What about footballers pay?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...s-rise-tickets

[Dedworth]

What about footballers pay?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...s-rise-tickets

The clubs have been mug enough to pay up so good luck to them their wages have no impact on my cost of living but greedy CEO's and the overpaid sycophants they surround themselves do

[lastlid]

The clubs have been mug enough to pay up so good luck to them their wages have no impact on my cost of living but greedy CEO's and the overpaid sycophants they surround themselves do

Cost of a season ticket and sky sports subscriptions?

[gWaPito]

Didn't get a chance to reply to this. What will probably "give" is house prices.

In the distant short term, yes ...long term putting money into bricks and mortar for me always the best place.

I grant you house prices have fallen in recent times, they will recover..that, im sure of.

Its like the folks who quickly sell there shares when value drops...really not a smart move....that's surely a time to buy or at least hang onto what you got

Btw...like its been said..pointless in my mind getting worked up over something you got no control over...for example, there latest fuel rises...not good, I know but, I compare what we pay here in UK and what folks pay in the Philippines for there utilities.... a whole bunch more I can tell you...no heating bills but they sure have electricity bills, they are monstrous.

Really, it could be a lot lot worse

[lastlid]

"Have we passed the point of maximum oil production?

There is an ongoing debate between ‘peak oil’ theorists, who believe that we have already passed the point of maximum production, and oil companies who state that new technologies will extend the life of oil well beyond estimates.

What is clear is that oil is getting harder to find and extract, and this is reflected in rising prices. A barrel that cost $10 in 1998 and $64 in 2007 today costs $135. Economists are predicting that the $200 ceiling will be broached before the end of the year.

The knock-on effects are many, including a rise in the cost of fuel oil affecting manufacturing and fuel for transport, impacting shipping, aviation and road travel. Oil price increases also effect the commodity cost of stable food stuffs such as wheat and rice – the fuel for vehicles used in harvesting and transporting them doubling in price in the past year."

http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/them...ll-oil-run-out


Where are the major oil reserves?

Two-thirds of the world’s remaining reserves are in the Middle East:

Country Billions of barrels

Saudi Arabia 261.8
Iraq 112.5
United Arab Emirates 97.8
Kuwait 96.5
Iran 89.7

By comparison, the North Sea has around 4.9bn barrels remaining.

[lastlid]

In the distant short term, yes ...long term putting money into bricks and mortar for me always the best place.

I grant you house prices have fallen in recent times, they will recover..that, im sure of.

Its like the folks who quickly sell there shares when value drops...really not a smart move....that's surely a time to buy or at least hang onto what you got

If people don't have any money because they have spent it on food and utility bills, then the prices of houses will drop.

[stevewool]

selling your house may be hard , or you sell it for peanuts, well i dont want to do either, renting it out is the answer for me i hope, my daughter as agreed to rent it from me once we go over to the phils,it may work it may not, but its what we are thinking of doing, the heating cost is going up, well get down to primark and get some good pjs and slippers and even a big dressing gown, you do have to think about the cost unless you say sod it and you are happy paying the bills, me i am not, but the house is a warm house so a little heat goes along way, i may even consider opening up the fireplace again and get a fire going again, or 1 big candle

[lastlid]

selling your house may be hard , or you sell it for peanuts, well i dont want to do either, renting it out is the answer for me i hope, my daughter as agreed to rent it from me once we go over to the phils,it may work it may not, but its what we are thinking of doing, the heating cost is going up, well get down to primark and get some good pjs and slippers and even a big dressing gown, you do have to think about the cost unless you say sod it and you are happy paying the bills, me i am not, but the house is a warm house so a little heat goes along way, i may even consider opening up the fireplace again and get a fire going again, or 1 big candle

Just like when we were kids....

[lastlid]

Its all out there folks....

"Britain’s Energy Gap

By 2015, it is possible that the UK will face electricity shortages, as old power stations go ‘off-line’ before their replacements are ready.

To help prevent such an energy gap emerging, plans are in place to build another seven coal-fired stations, delivering an additional 10 – 12 GW, despite the fact that coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

The much talked-about next generation of nuclear power stations, if built at all, will take somewhere between 12 and 20 years to build, so won't be producing full power until the late 2020s. Renewables, perhaps including the Severn Barrage, could be making electricity faster, perhaps producing as much as 40% of our electricity needs by 2020, but enormous challenges need to be overcome, including planning and grid connection constraints, financial incentives for developers, and the supply chains for materials, equipment and skilled engineers."

http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/them...rgy/the-future

[stevewool]

just like kids, flannelette pjs, fastened right up to the neck and drawstring bottoms, socks and a fleece dressing gown, sometimes even socks on your hands in our home, throw a few old army coats on the bed and your as snug as a bug in a rug

[imagine]

bricks and mortar have always been the best investment, even if there is no profit to be made in the end, its a solid investment and safe as houses pardon the pun, very little can go wrong, unless the powers that be deside to put a motorway through it and thats not very likely ,

myself i don,t forsee any significant recovery, unless something drastic happens like a world war the way it used to be , history has shown economic recovery after a war,

perhaps due to a reduced population and rebuilding of destroyed buildings and infrastructure,

still the best bet is bricks and mortar, it will still be yours when you wake up one morning to find your money has no worth and the countrys bankrupt, and the bankers,and the richest have gone with theirs invested safely somewhere else

[stevewool]

Its all out there folks....

"Britain’s Energy Gap

By 2015, it is possible that the UK will face electricity shortages, as old power stations go ‘off-line’ before their replacements are ready.

To help prevent such an energy gap emerging, plans are in place to build another seven coal-fired stations, delivering an additional 10 – 12 GW, despite the fact that coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

The much talked-about next generation of nuclear power stations, if built at all, will take somewhere between 12 and 20 years to build, so won't be producing full power until the late 2020s. Renewables, perhaps including the Severn Barrage, could be making electricity faster, perhaps producing as much as 40% of our electricity needs by 2020, but enormous challenges need to be overcome, including planning and grid connection constraints, financial incentives for developers, and the supply chains for materials, equipment and skilled engineers."

http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/them...rgy/the-future

they even reacon that we will have power cuts back too, get them candles in ready i say