The true cost

[happy daze john in oz]

Here in Oz we get regular news items from around the world concerning major economies. Regular ones from UK tend of late to paint a somewhat bleak picture.

We are told the inflation rate is now at 10.1% and rising.
According to the news power prices are set to increase by 80% on September 1st, costing the average household some 6000GBP per year.!!

Having been in London back in July we saw the prices there, very ugly I can assure you.'
But London central is now like many other similar capital cities, just a tourist trap.

I was somewhat disgusted by a UK MP who appeared on our TV last week, not sure who he is but think part of present government.
He went on to say ' we must all be very careful how we use power over the coming winter months if we want enough for all'
Easy for him to say, he will not be effected by it all.

There is also talk of a recession for UK, and on our news nothing but talk of strikes by many, Postal workers out now we here.

But from your perspective what is the true state of the nation, not what the news tells us just to sell copy.

It would appear that the rush to renewable energy without suitable base load back up is part of the problem, we are fast approaching the same here in Oz.

[Doc Vernon]

I too hear from my Daughter in Birmingham about all this John, and it not looking good at all there!
With the bleedin War in Ukraine stuffing up many things , many many People are going to and are at present suffering because of it!

Here in Aus , as you know we too are now being hit with similar appeals of Conserving Energy, and again easy to ask but hard to do especially this past Months that have been so cold. I try and conserve as much as i can, but this Year my Gas Bill is way over the top, cannot help it.

Then there are the Food prices sky Rocketing, Petrol and other things!

I know its happening in many parts of the World now , and cannot see any end to it , well not in the foreseeable future anyway!

Now the Bleedin Train Strikes on top of all this , its not looking good !

When we came here in 1980 Aussie was such a good place and so lucky too, but i am afraid that the Luck is running out fast , and we must be prepared to live a very different style of life in the future!

We as you well know have been very spoilt as far as easy living goes, that i fear is well on the way out nowdays!

Its a hard hard World!
Cheers

PS My newly found Son in South Africa after some 53 Years too, is telling me of the drastic things that are happening there, as far as the above goes! So just shows!

Yes mate i had a Son with my Second Wife, lost track for all this time, now like my Daughter in Birmingham we are Re United! Long Story! But all good now!
Have been informe that the second Wife has passed on , as has the Man she Married when she left me. I it wasnt so personal i would write about it! All i ca say is Karma mate!!!!

So another Child in my life, and two more Grand Kids as well, gee mate i am doing AOK! lol

[Louis the fly]

Two main reasons UK is in such a mess now, decisions taken by past and present governments. Selling off the utility sector which is essential to life, now nearly all in foreign hands. Allowing the closure of gas storage facilities means energy has to be bought at sky high world prices. The government has a ready made scapegoat in Putin although we only buy a fraction of Russian gas.
Once again the British public bear the cost of governmental failure.

[vic mcclymont]

Louis, it may have escaped your notice, but all countries are paying sky high prices for gas.
Nationalisation wouldn't have saved us from paying the market price.
vic

[Keith Tindell]

What we are all coming to realise is, that we all live in a very small world now, and all depend on one another, no country in the world can sit back and say, we are not affected, even the shortage of labour is not just Europe, most developed countries are having the same problem. The Arabs are not stupid, they realised years ago that should other means of transport not requiring petrol be developed, we in the west would drop them like a hot spud. So what did they do, they bought land all over the world, they own large estates in the UK alone, and huge amounts of property in London, large farms etc, and the Chinese are doing the same in uk, EU, Oz etc. And has been proven when Putin invaded, the whole world will shiver, affects us all. It was always said that if USA sneezes the UK catches a cold, its more global than that now. The population today is used to a comfortable life, house warm in all rooms with central heating, food aplenty from all over the world, stand by for big shocks, but a lot of us born before and in the war years have some idea on how to cope, maybe will all wake up to a time when Jack Frost had come during the night and left ice on the inside of the bedroom window, and the wives were used to making meals from what they could lay their hands on, and make soups and stews etc, so we will see how the younger generation are going to cope.

[James Curry]

Scrap VAT for domestic gas & electric supplies currently at 5%. Or see what other countries are doing. France have capped price rise at 4% until the end of the year. UK inflation is 10.1% and expected to rise to 13% by years end. Have a look at how inflation has been on the rise since 31st December 2021.
I am glad I am mortgage free. Those with mortgages are going to take a hammering. The property market is likely to implode and banks & building societies will be back in the repossession business big time. No doubt the vultures with loads of money will be circling and start to pick up properties at knock down prices, then rent them out to those who have become homeless at inflated rents.

[Louis the fly]

Louis, it may have escaped your notice, but all countries are paying sky high prices for gas.
Nationalisation wouldn't have saved us from paying the market price.
vic

Not true Vic. Germany the country most affected by the Russian gas boycott has it's storage tanks 80% full. The rest of Europe have also been filling their gas reserves. The UK has 1% capacity.
If the utilities were still nationalised the profits would be going to the treasury not shareholders. Look at the enormous profits water companies are making, paying million pound salaries to executives and more millions to shareholders while polluting our rivers and beaches with sewage.

[j.sabourn]

#6 what’s the situation in the UAE what effects is it having there ? JS

[James Curry]

I suspect they are making a fortune John. Australia will be doing very well as they were the number one LNG exporter in the world .

Australia remains world's top LNG exporter but it could lose its crown this year 2022.

[vic mcclymont]

The UK has been shipping 75m.cu.mtrs. of natural gas to the Netherlands and Belgium.
The UK for many months has been supply up to 3G.watts of electricity per day to France and lesser amount Ireland.