Just one question...

[klondike]

I saw this story in the Express...

'We've saved Europe again': Energy crisis over as UK wind blows Putin away
Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he could bring Europe to its knees by weaponising gas exports, but he didn't bank on UK wind power.

Instead of rocketing this winter, natural gas prices across Europe and the UK have plunged by almost 80 percent since August, when panic set in.

Gas prices have now fallen to levels last seen before Putin launched his cruel and reckless war in Ukraine.

The evil dictator was banking on the EU giving up on Ukraine as winter gas shortages triggered power cuts across the continent, provoked social unrest and threatened to destroy German industrial output.

Yet his plan has been smashed by the mild winter in Europe, and increasingly warn weather conditions in the US and Asia as well.

This has slashed demand for energy and allowed Europe to top up its storage tanks. It means the energy crisis is drawing to a close.

Europe has also had a secret weapon in the shape of British offshore wind power.

Rest of story https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1719776/Vladimir-Putin-Ukraine-energy-crisis-Windpower-natural-gas-energy-bills

Now for the question I mentioned in the thread title...
If energy proces have fallen to pre invasion levels and the crisis is over...

Why am I paying a far higher standing charge and nearly 3 times as much per kilowatt hour as I was last year and with only half the house heated and to a lower temperature is my DD 50% higher despite a taxpayer top up of £66 a month?

[Jacqueline]

Because all the energy providers are greedy buggers they put up prices when costs go up and don't reduce them when costs go down, that's the simple answer.  But I think  there is another answer too, they are trying to make us cut down on our energy use by high prices  and without them losing any money.

Also, once upon a time the Supermarket garages used to be cheaper than the small ones, now it's the other way around, our local garage is 5p cheaper for desiel than Morrisons how come?  The garages are not passing on reductions in the oil prices either.

We are being ripped off by everyone including the government.

[klondike]

It's the high energy prices as much as anything that is causing the current high rate of inflation. Perhaps HMG are hoping we have the memory spans of goldfish.

[Cassandra]

Because all the energy providers are greedy buggers they put up prices when costs go up and don't reduce them when costs go down, that's the simple answer.  But I think  there is another answer too, they are trying to make us cut down on our energy use by high prices  and without them losing any money.

Also, once upon a time the Supermarket garages used to be cheaper than the small ones, now it's the other way around, our local garage is 5p cheaper for desiel than Morrisons how come?  The garages are not passing on reductions in the oil prices either.

We are being ripped off by everyone including the government.

Lack of competition is the real reason. Technically a mature 'Oligopoly' without controls leads to a marketplace with fewer traders who then conspire to agree minimum prices. There have been three Monopolies and Merger Commission enquiries into this market at 'Retail' level, dating back to 1966. But the real control and fixing is determined by a handful of very friendly refiners further up the supply chain. Indeed by the act of 'Vertical Integration' gas and oil companies trade within departmentalised fixes to maintain a high retail on price on fuels. They achieve this by transferring products from one dept of a company to another. So refining dept (based in Lichtenstein where company tax is say 1%) makes Billions. Retail dept, who have to buy from them to supply their company owned fuel outlets never make a profit as they pay way exorbitant prices deliberately decided in advance to facilitate that loss and their based over here of course. The whole 'Corporate' Holding balance sheet is likewise sited within the low tax regime. From these locations at the year they offset the Retail Dept sheet losses against monster profits 'upstream' to further reduce the refining profit!  They also pay Politicians (sic) to suppress information that would reveal this 'arrangement' specifically beneficial to the Oil Industry. There are many reliable incidences justifying these actions!

Higher prices are also Hunts dreamworld. Don't forget his absorbent VAT rates on fuels are 20% on the retailers mark up and 20% before that on the Retail Price! So higher values give higher yields to his indirect taxation yields!

Also "Green grow the rushes O" 'Lillywhite boy' Snake Sunak wants us to all give up cars and cycle everywhere, except for the need to get to London fast by HS2? So high prices are his principal and battery cars are already more expensive to recharge, than to fill up a petrol car with unleaded every 150 miles and wait 4-6 hours twiddling your thumbs while it re-charges, at a 'plug-in' if you can find one. Recent Govt figures (quickly forgotten and in micro font) show its now 17p for petrol a litre v's 20p alternative for Battery cars. Diesel because of an extended Green Woke agenda elevating prices is now beyond any vein of transparency with a 24p a lire gap to unleaded!

Simply bastards all of them and I only hope I live long enough to see the Tory Party burn in hell, following a lifetime of devoted support for them by myself and my father!

[Ashy]

I couldn't agree more.

[klondike]

I can't see them getting an army of free lackeys to do the door stepping and the like next time around considering how the membership have been treated. Nor their votes.  I reckon that they are toast and deserve to be.

[Diasi]

Also, the stated reason for the gas prices not coming down is that wholesale gas is bought months in advance & the gas we'll be using for the next few months was bought at the higher price.

Well if that's the case the cost of gas shouldn't have increased for the same number of months after wholesale prices increased.

But it went up straight away.

January 12, 2023, 10:12:30 AM

I can't see them getting an army of free lackeys to do the door stepping and the like next time around considering how the membership have been treated. Nor their votes.  I reckon that they are toast and deserve to be.

The local council elections in May will be interesting.

I know the General Election results don't necessarily follow the local election results but I think the local election results will be a fairly good indicator this time round.

[Raven]

It's like Jacqueline says, those at the top are the greediest people in the world. They should be halted in their tracks BUT, it's their friends and families who are the ones in charge and doing this, sooooo they can't upset the money trough or they may be disowned and kicked out.

[klondike]

The local elections will likely be dire. I wonder how dire they need to be before they dare bin the decidedly lack lustre Sunak this close to a general election. I think it will certainly be their last chance to do so and they will be strapped for anybody else to take on the job anyway as there is close to zero chance of them winning the next election so whoever got it would only have assassination by the MPs to look forward to shortly after.

I think Sunak will survive in the short term but a recent poll https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/rishi-sunak-may-lose-his-seat-in-2024-elections-report-3675021 suggests that he himself will not survive the next election anyway.

[Raven]

I don't want them to win, as losing will teach those horrible people a lesson well overdue.

[Cassandra]

Yes my sentiment entirely. The Liberals have successfully combined with the Globalists to take over the Conservative party. Seeing infiltration of a lethargic giant as an easier way for their Woke principals to gain Government, than by open electioneering, where they would fail to impress.

Like all parasites they eventually destroy the host and thats where we are up to just now.

I think May in the UK Local elections will see an historic fall in the Tory vote, across the board as the majority either stay at home, or else like I would have done, seek out the likeliest opposition candidate to succeed and vote for such, out of pure vengeance, with malice and aforethought!

[Diasi]

Yes my sentiment entirely. The Liberals have successfully combined with the Globalists to take over the Conservative party. Seeing infiltration of a lethargic giant as an easier way for their Woke principals to gain Government, than by open electioneering, where they would fail to impress.

Like all parasites they eventually destroy the host and thats where we are up to just now.

I think May in the UK Local elections will see an historic fall in the Tory vote, across the board as the majority either stay at home, or else like I would have done, seek out the likeliest opposition candidate to succeed and vote for such, out of pure vengeance, with malice and aforethought!

This where I'm on the horns of a dilemma as our local council is Tory controlled & does a good job of running things.

Together with our Tory MP, they've secured funding to really improve the town's facilities & are reviving it into a much more attractive place.

However, the Tory majority is whisker thin with the Lib Dems, who've tried to scupper a lot of the improvements, in second place.

Labour are nowhere in the running.

Therefore, I feel that voting Tory, to keep the town planning on track, is better than not voting or protest voting & letting in the Lib Dems to undo it.

[klondike]

You may feel that way about it but I suspect there will be others that don't and will just punish the local politicians for the sins of the national ones. If the majority is wafer then I suspect you will be getting LibDems.

[Diasi]

You may feel that way about it but I suspect there will be others that don't and will just punish the local politicians for the sins of the national ones. If the majority is wafer then I suspect you will be getting LibDems.

That's what bothers me, those who can't see the bigger picture locally.

[klondike]

Whenever central government makes a complete horlicks of things the local parties suffer. It happened at the last round of local elections and it will happen again for sure imo. As my local Tory council is famous nationally for  the vanishing £10 millon for a football stand and illegally going bankrupt I can't say I'm fussed what happens to them.