Rise in energy bills

I think that they install a pay as you go meter. So the onus is then on the consumer. No money = no electricity. And it is more expensive that normal.

I was just looking at average state pensions.

I’ve only looked quickly at Germany and France and both seem to pay approx 50% of final? salary. I shall look at other countries later.

Pensioners will be in a hugely better position than in the U.K. to afford to keep themselves warm and fed over the coming year.

Shame Sunak couldn’t find the wherewithal to pay the triple lock.

NI type payments are higher in other countries. I remember my BIL complaining when he moved to France.

Tizliz

NI type payments are higher in other countries. I remember my BIL complaining when he moved to France.

That is what needs to happen here. Unless something is done the U.K. is going to be in a position of very high pensioner poverty, resulting in poor health outcomes and misery for hundreds of thousands if not millions.

Listen to peoples experiences on LBC.

Stunning!

We can’t have the same high pension in the UK as other countries if we don’t match their contributions - in the same way that if you save 50p into a savings account, you won’t accumulate the same amount as someone who pays in a £1 over the same period!

The amount of moaning I’ve heard about NI going up, income tax free amounts not being raised for 5years etc suggests that people talk the talk but when asked to walk the walk...

Shame Sunak couldn’t find the wherewithal to pay the triple lock

Plenty of money on his magic tree to pay for people to sit at home on furlough. Not to mention all the covid related fraud. Plus that corrupt gang of shysters in whitehall handing contracts for duff merchandise to their mates. And dont mention partygate.

Whitewavemark2

I think that they install a pay as you go meter. So the onus is then on the consumer. No money = no electricity. And it is more expensive that normal.

I was just looking at average state pensions.

I’ve only looked quickly at Germany and France and both seem to pay approx 50% of final? salary. I shall look at other countries later.

Pensioners will be in a hugely better position than in the U.K. to afford to keep themselves warm and fed over the coming year.

Shame Sunak couldn’t find the wherewithal to pay the triple lock.

I’ve only looked quickly at Germany and France and both seem to pay approx 50% of final? salary. I shall look at other countries later.

I worked in Norway for 12 years. My Norwegian State Pension for just those 12 years is roughly (depending on the ER) the same as the UK State Pension for which you have to work a minimum of 30 years.

Norwegian workers pay much more in tax though,don't they? Is it not something like 30-40 %? Norway also has the most expensive food in the EU. Though everyone else is prob fast catching up.

People sitting at home on furlough were not on holiday. My family member lost their job as after furlough, their services were no longer required and it was nearly a year before they could get other employment. Please think before posting.

Pepper59

Norwegian workers pay much more in tax though,don't they? Is it not something like 30-40 %? Norway also has the most expensive food in the EU. Though everyone else is prob fast catching up.

It's all relative.

I ultimately paid 28% tax on my salary which was very nearly twice what it was, for a similar position in the UK. My partner paid 34% on a salary of £50k.

Diary products are the most expensive foodstuffs in Norway compared to the rest of the EU. Other food items vary considerably depending on whether they're imported or domestically produced.

But housing - outside of the cities - is very much cheaper than in the UK. All the young people in my company were able to get on the housing ladder in their mid-twenties. And you get a lot for your money. Even small properties will have utility rooms or areas.

Norwegians accept that, if you want the services like health and social security to run efficiently - and mostly they do - then you have to pay for them. Though some grumble, obviously.

And tuition at Universities is free for anyone who attends. Norwegian 'thinking' is that education is very important and that everyone should be able to access the opportunities provided.

Pantglas2

We can’t have the same high pension in the UK as other countries if we don’t match their contributions - in the same way that if you save 50p into a savings account, you won’t accumulate the same amount as someone who pays in a £1 over the same period!

The amount of moaning I’ve heard about NI going up, income tax free amounts not being raised for 5years etc suggests that people talk the talk but when asked to walk the walk...

The issue is that not everybody will pay the increased NI, but everybody will (allegedly) benefit from it.

I know something of the system in Germany, which can't be compared with the UK. Germans pay more towards their pensions than people in the UK do, but they don't have the mix of private, occupational and state pensions.

The figures for pensions in the UK are confusing because many people receive non-state pensions, so the average pensioner income is actually higher than usually stated. In comparison, German pensions usually come from the same source.

Pantglas2

We can’t have the same high pension in the UK as other countries if we don’t match their contributions - in the same way that if you save 50p into a savings account, you won’t accumulate the same amount as someone who pays in a £1 over the same period!

The amount of moaning I’ve heard about NI going up, income tax free amounts not being raised for 5years etc suggests that people talk the talk but when asked to walk the walk...

It would be fine if everybody was facing the increases, but they're not.

The Spanish system is similar to the German then Growstuff few current pensioners there have more than the state pension, although things are changing with the government pushing private providers for current workers

I actually don’t have a problem with everyone benefitting from the new NI but I doubt it will happen - anyone owning property will be penalised compared to those who rent when it comes to later life care.

Some people haven’t paid much NI (me) and get the full new state pension as those who earned more and paid correspondingly more NI (DH)

Life isn’t fair and I don’t really expect any government to make it so!

Pantglas2

Life isn’t fair and I don’t really expect any government to make it so!

I suspect no government could do that. But they can, and should, stop widening the gap between the ultra wealthy and the poorest.

Fortunately, for this government, we are 'complainers' mostly, not activists. But they should reflect on the 1989 / 1990 so called 'poll tax riots' which basically underlined Margaret Thatcher's demise as PM. Even its main architect, Lord Waldegrave, later admitted it was a serious mistake in the "gung-ho" way it was introduced. He conceded that it worked 'on paper' intellectually, but it was never his plan to introduce it all in one go. Which is exactly what the government did.

If people reach the stage where they can't pay, they might also reach the stage where they won't pay and take to the streets to highlight the point. You can squeeze the pips out of the lemon, but when they're all gone, they're all gone.

The government have it within their power to mitigate the effects of the huge hike in energy prices, but they have chosen not to. It might be their undoing.

Nothing at all can excuse the huge hike in the daily Standing Charges. If they were no permitted, then it would at least be a good way towards mitigating the increases.

I agree Franbern the charge a few months ago was high for basically enabling access to ‘fuel’ from your property. With the existing infrastructure needing maybe a bit of maintenance, no major overhauls, an increase is pure profiteering.

I suspect Franbern that energy companies know that when they hike the price per Kw by so much, people will cut back on usage to save money.

There’s nothing at all we can do to reduce the standing charge so it’s their way of maintaining their profits.

Years ago there were a few companies who offered no standing charge but higher price per Kw which suited me as we were abroad for so many months and only paid for what we used. Haven’t found a deal like that in a long time!

Agree about the outrageous standing charge increase - almost doubled!!! This is pure profiteering by the energy companies. We, the consumers, are being ripped off by them and we’re unable to do anything about it. Even if we used no gas/electricity we’d still pay the standing charge

I've checked back on my gas/electricity usage for April/May 2021 and can see that my actual fuel consumption then was £30.85 plus standing charges. I'll have to pay more than that just for the standing charges, for the same period, this year. God alone knows how families with young children will manage.

Most people in this country will not "take to the streets" not is there any way of avoiding being hammered by the NI/Tax rises if you are on PAYG.

The one tax we all have some control over is Council Tax which is a regressive scam anyway. If everyone witheld their CT in protest and used it instead to heat their homes and feed their kids they could not take everyone to court or put everyone in jail.

Local authorities are notoriously wasteful and they would soon whinge to westminster.

Local authorities are notoriously wasteful and they would soon whinge to westminster.

Local Authorities are a vital part of our democratic institutions. If they are wasteful then it is up to local citizens to make careful choices of who they vote for as councillors, not sit back and expect the Westminster government to sort it out (because they won't, because that is not what central government is there for).

Most LAs have had their money cut to the bone by the tories over the past decade, using precisely the excuse that you are, biglouis, that they are wasteful and inefficient. So now we have former LA services provided by the private sector, often very badly (social care? children's homes, anyone?). Yet who ran the most effective Test and Trace operations? LAs, with their wealth of experience and local knowledge, or the privatised version favoured by the government?

Back to energy bills!

The huge rise in the standing charge has the most adverse effect on those with the lowest incomes. Surely the more you use the more should be paid. It’s profiteering on the worst level.