After the outrage of English electricity companies forcibly installing pre payment meters in the homes of elderly and vulnerable people who cannot afford even the standing charges let alone turning their heating on, something - everyone demanded - had to be done.
So what have they done? Promised not to cut off anyone over the age of 85, or anyone with a terminal disease such as cancer, but only if they depend on electricity to stay alive. They have also been told to wear body cameras when forcing entry into homes to disconnect so that the footage can be seen by ombudsmen if there is a complaint. Good luck with that. How many police body cameras have mysteriously lost the footage of incidents involving brutality against people on the street?
Things will get better for big businesses soon we are told, but not for the small ones who have been struggling to survive since covid.
There is no redress for little people. The ombudsmen cannot cope and the big people know it.
I would nationalise all utility companies immediately.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that would be feasible now.
DeleteAgree Northsider but ask yourself will this influence how folk vote at the next election? I hope so but I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteEven Labour would not re-nationalise. We cannot afford it any more, if we ever could.
DeleteI did not know that France owns British electric supply. I remember British Gas when it was British Gas.
ReplyDeleteAnd dealt in gas...
DeleteEDF are now suing the French government for several billions for capping the price of electricity at half what EDF are paying for it on the wholesale market. France are now buying electricity from us due to closure of many French nuclear plants because they are old and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteSo it should be 20 percent then. I suppose they need the pension funds even more than we do if they retire at 62. Germany has begun to decommission their last nuclear power station, but they have been Green for a lot longer than any other European country for 40 years. As far as nuclear goes, the small local ones sound like a good alternative to the giants we want (ed) the Chinese to build for us.
DeleteGermany have just closed their last nuclear power station. The new one to be built at in Suffolk at Sizewell still has no funds to pay for the building although they are spending a lot of money on ecology and archaeology surveys. It would still be 10 years until it was online even if they started building today. Next winter? Gawd Knows.
ReplyDeleteI think the Chinese were going to finance ours. Not any more.
Delete"I agree, but I'm not going to vote for anything that would affect the value of my house."
ReplyDeleteEspecially if you are depending on your house for financial security in your old age...
DeleteOf course I do not have or know of a solution Welcome to your world.
ReplyDeleteOutrageous! I always learned the British saying "My home is my castle".
ReplyDeleteIn Germany they closed the last three nuclear power stations now in April, the population is mostly against that - the next election will be very interesting.
We have to change heating in our houses from 2024 - again: next election will be very interesting. That will be in autumn 2025 - till then a lot of babies will be thrown out with the bath water.
But what I read above in your post surpasses everything.
Companies behave very badly now. Boris Johnson said, before Brexit, "The NHS is safe with me". Now, our Home Office is going to ignore the European Court of Human Rights judgements. Things will get worse until this government get thrown out, but by that time damage which cannot be undone will have become deeper. 18 months is a very long time.
ReplyDeleteThe NHS was not safe with Blair and he set out the stall for privatisation of many parts of it and made it easier for those who came thereafter. The Euroean Court of Human Rights will not be missed; we have many thousands of human rights lawyers who will continue to protect human rights. The European Court did things like prolong the stay of the evil Abu Hamza and did little or nothing for our wellbeing as law abiding citizens except tell us to keep terrorists in our midst and care for them at our expense.
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