Huge rise on Energy bills

Any bill over £200 from me and they can whistle Dixie.

I’m not being nasty. Okay, not ‘illegal’ migrants. I apologise for that comment. Migrants then. But c’mon. We all KNOW this needs fixing. £5 million a day? Beggars belief. It even dwarfs the PPE mess that has finished now. But the migrant crisis is ongoing (and growing). You know it is. How deep are your taxpayer pockets when you just don’t mind?

Actually, I said yesterday on another thread (can’t remember which one now) that net zero is a big mistake. Too much, too fast. Silly Boris. The UK generate only 1% of carbon emissions. Think on that when we pay our enormous bills. Minuscule whilst China is belching out their emissions on steroids.

Perhaps Ed Milliband’s green levy ought to be junked?

My comment wasn’t a ‘look there’s a squirrel’ one. I just happen to think in the round, that it’s an important point.

It's a criminal situation when you think of the BILLIONS wasted on PPE etc !
This is deprivation on a huge scale and if someone deprived a child of its basic needs----food and warmth, you'd be hauled over the coals by the authorities. Neglect being the operative word.

MayBee70

Whitewavemark2

Urmstongran

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Oh for goodness sake. Your right wing tropes and constant gaslighting are getting so tedious.

They aren’t illegal channel migrants. They’re refugees aren’t they? And we have a responsibility towards them. Methinks the racist card might have worked during the vote leave campaign but it’s time to drop it now.

Of course you are right, but when has that ever stopped these fascist tropes?

growstuff

Jane43

M0nica

Being in the fortunate position of being able to pay the higher fuel bills without too much problem. I do not want the £200. I would rather it went to someone on a low income as a grant not a loan.

Why didn't the governmeny just raise the level of pension credit and increase Universal Credit and in work benefits to make sure the money available was targeted at those who needed it most?

Agreed Monica and why not stop giving the winter fuel allowance to all pensioners? The money should go to low income families and those on pension credit.

The trouble with that is that the threshold for Pension Credit is low and there are millions just over the threshold who are struggling, but still have to pay their energy bills.

I take your point Growstuff, perhaps the payment could be made only to those on the lower tax rate?

Whitewavemark2

Urmstongran

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Oh for goodness sake. Your right wing tropes and constant gaslighting are getting so tedious.

They aren’t illegal channel migrants. They’re refugees aren’t they? And we have a responsibility towards them. Methinks the racist card might have worked during the vote leave campaign but it’s time to drop it now.

paddyann54

And ONE MILLION pounds a DAY to store useless PPE bought by the MATES of boris who knew damn all about PPE !
I'd much rather pay to house and feed people desperate to get to what they see as a better life .
I guess thats why I'm a socialist and vote SNP and your a Tory

NEVER trust a tory ...anyone who isn't a millionaire at least is delusional if they think tories work for the ordinary man..Look back in history ,even recent history and check for yourself .Self serving, cheating ,money grabbing B----ards one and all !!

I agree 100%. If I lived in Scotland I’d be looking for independence; in Northern Ireland joining with ROI. Instead, I’m stuck in England with the most immoral government we’ve had since Thatcher. (BTW, my roots are southern England).

LizzieDrip, you're right, it's every man for himself now. Beggar you Jack !

I can see crime rising hugely as those who are in the worst situations, though not particularly criminally-minded, will commit some sort of crime in order to enter prison for warmth and 3 meals a day. Those who'll be driven to the brink !

ayse

Whitewavemark2

Urmstongran

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Oh for goodness sake. Your right wing tropes and constant gaslighting are getting so tedious.

Why not do the sensible thing. Give them a 6 month visa, some sort of ID card, let them find work and pay some rent to a hostel. If they manage to find work then review every 6 months. If successful why shouldn’t they stay and continue to work, pay tax and become part of our society? We do less than many other countries to help asylum seekers and refugees.

There is a standard process for asylum seekers.

The Home Office is simply dragging its feet.

It is a typical far right tactic.

Don’t look at the bloody chaos the government is causing.

Let’s scapegoat those least able to defend themselves.

What a nasty nasty thing to do.

Whitewavemark2

Urmstongran

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Oh for goodness sake. Your right wing tropes and constant gaslighting are getting so tedious.

Why not do the sensible thing. Give them a 6 month visa, some sort of ID card, let them find work and pay some rent to a hostel. If they manage to find work then review every 6 months. If successful why shouldn’t they stay and continue to work, pay tax and become part of our society? We do less than many other countries to help asylum seekers and refugees.

BlueBelle

Jane I don’t fully agree why do only people on pension credit get thought about There are many of us who have tried to be careful throughout our lives put a bit away for our old age and don’t qualify although we don’t have a very big annual income
It’s those that are just above pension credit that are going to suffer

Agreed, I think the winter fuel allowance should stay, some people dont qualify for pension credit, get only the full state pension, and the fuel allowance is welcome. The people who suggest that only people on pension credit should get WFA, are financially wealthy, some state they give it to charity, good luck to them they can afford to do it. I hope to retire in 2023 when I am 66. I will get a occupational pension and a reduced state pension of about £10.00 per week due to contracting out of our pensions, trust me that money will be welcome.

They are asylum seekers, not illegal immigrants.

They come here for good reasons and they want to work.
We need workers.
We need our government to provide a good system to make this work rather than asking underfunded local councils to house these men, women and children who are just like you and me, but find themselves in desperate situations.

And ONE MILLION pounds a DAY to store useless PPE bought by the MATES of boris who knew damn all about PPE !
I'd much rather pay to house and feed people desperate to get to what they see as a better life .
I guess thats why I'm a socialist and vote SNP and your a Tory

NEVER trust a tory ...anyone who isn't a millionaire at least is delusional if they think tories work for the ordinary man..Look back in history ,even recent history and check for yourself .Self serving, cheating ,money grabbing B----ards one and all !!

Mps have no idea how ordinary people live,I would feel wealthy if I had their income

Urmstongran

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Oh for goodness sake. Your right wing tropes and constant gaslighting are getting so tedious.

Coastpath ???

Meanwhile we find out it is costing the taxpayer nearly £5 MILLION a day to house illegal Channel migrants in hotels.

??

Westendgirl
I've written to my MP (Tory) about
The parties
Sewage in rivers
Council funding
Energy Prices
Covid response
Food banks
PPE
School dinners
Hunting
Statues
Black Lives Matter
Our local beach

He has only replied once on the subject of sewers to say that he couldn't vote as he was at COP.

Please don't stop writing to your MPs but it's not always productive. Any attempt to get things done through my safe seat Tory millionaire landowner is futile.

Just saw this tweet. Not something I’d thought of

Anyone know if
@educationgovuk
are going to be helping schools with gas and electric bills? Ours has just gone up by £56,000 for next year?
Total gas and electric for year ahead is now £121,000!

In my opinion, when people last voted Tory they knew what they were getting as they had already had years of it. When they voted for Boris, they knew him to be the liar, clown and cheat that he always has been.

When people voted Brexit, they were choosing to put all the power in the hands of our own government. No checks or influences on that power, just isolation and absolute power.

It seems from GN that most people who voted Tory did so because of Brexit or because 'the alternative would be unthinkable'. Well we've got Brexit and it's delivering absolutely nothing. We didn't get the opposition party, but the actions of the Tory party are becoming more unthinkable day after day.

People will say 'ohhh well pandemic/Brexit teething troubles/worldwide energy prices'.....but it isn't that, it's the way this government is handling things that is making life harder. Other governments are doing better. Even the 'yes but vaccines' argument doesn't really stack up if you look at how other countries have fared.

Experience shows that things get worse for the poorest and the rich become billionaires under Tory governments. We all knew that. That is what is happening now.

Until the Tories push things far enough for some people to swop excuses for anger then we are stuck with this. I wonder if that will ever happen.

Martin Lewis comments:

youtu.be/HUP4p8QrLIw

Agree ayse - very uncomfortable! I wonder if so many years of Conservative government has led to a generation of people who only care about ‘the individual’. The Conservative ethos is ‘individual over society’. Remember Thatcher’s infamous ‘there’s no such thing as society’. Are we now a nation of people who believe this. What a sad day!

Perhaps a starting point could be for those who have Tory MPs to write to them in no uncertain terms saying just how angry they are. ~If the MPs see their positions are not as secure as they hoped they might think again.
My MP( Labour does reply ).

I have managed to find the answer to my question:

www.telegraph.co.uk/tax/news/council-tax-energy-rebate-bills-band-how-work-2022/

Those exempt from paying council tax, including students and retirees on pension credit, will still be able to receive the grant. Those living by themselves and receiving the single person discount, which reduces their council tax bill by 25pc, will also be entitled to the full £150 rebate

So it's not really a rebate, as you don't have to have paid it to get it 'back', but a grant.
Though I don't suppose it matters what it is called, as long as it is helpful to its recipients.

Now I am wondering which pot it is being paid out of, and if it will it be added onto future years council tax bills in exactly the same way that the £200 is being added to future energy bills.
If that is what happens, the poorest, whatever their age, really are in for some dreadful times ahead.