High Inflation.

growstuff

Jane43

MaizieD much as I despise this government the £150 isn’t a loan, it is for council tax payers in Bands A to D but I believe those exempt from council tax won’t get it. The £200 to come later in the year will be a loan to be repaid over several years and most people don’t want it.

Those in a Band A-D property will get it, even if they are exempt. My son is a full-time student and rents a property, but doesn't pay council tax. He told me that the forms he's had to fill in are confusing, so he's probably not the only one who hasn't understood properly.

Thanks for clearing that up Growstuff.

polnan

not wanting to sound "racist" forgive me if I do, but mentioned above that EU workers don`t want to come here anymore,, but of course, we do have all these illegal migrants... so they will replace the missing workers!

In what way are they illegal?

Anybody who says that they don't want to sound racist, but...

Well, you can all finish it yourselves, eh?

not wanting to sound "racist" forgive me if I do, but mentioned above that EU workers don`t want to come here anymore,, but of course, we do have all these illegal migrants... so they will replace the missing workers!

GrannyGravy13

I suppose it’s the difference between getting through each day and living each day to the full?

I like that GG13. Sadly and slightly depressingly, I see it as living from day to day without too much angst and living with constant anxiety.

Calendargirl

Just listened to the early news on the radio, said inflation is highest for a decade.

Then a quick interview with a couple with two young children, asking how they were coping.

They said, with a laugh, they have had to give up going out. No more coffees, brunches, lunches which they obviously did quite a lot. Nothing wrong with that, but hardly a huge hardship.

I must sound like a grumpy old woman, but so many things that were viewed as ‘treats’ or ‘special’ not so long ago now seem to be viewed as necessities, and not just by the younger generation.

The hospitality industry is, I believe, the fourth biggest employer in the UK.

If people like those mentioned cut back on coffees, brunches and lunches, it will have a knock-on effect. And no-one needs me to point out what the effect will be.

Of course those who can/could afford such treats are in a better financial position than individuals relying on food banks. But those reliant on food banks will often be the very people who will suffer when the hospitality industry shrinks.

I've also cut back on these 'luxuries' but it's a dilemma- because I want my local businesses to survive. We have a couple of 'pavement' cafes here in my small town in The Cotswolds, and the cafes are a draw to the many tourists who visit in the summer. They are encouraged to linger and spend money in other shops thus keeping the town alive. I don't want to see shops close, tourists dry up, and commercial property bought up and turned into yet more expensive private accommodation... which has happened to other towns.

Casdon, hopefully nobody!

However, I don’t think k they are planning an election until 2024, and will assume that an announcement from September 2022, and a change in April 2023 will be forgotten by then.

Yes, that was one reason he mentioned amongst others.

Callistemon21

FannyCornforth

But there’s more to it than that.
It’s good when people have lots of disposable income, it keeps the economy going.
The people who do all the jobs that travels does will be out of work. Even less disposable income…
Cafes and pubs will close too.
(I’m particularly thinking of my local here - by the time I’m ready to start going out and about again (I haven’t been to the pub in over two years) the blooming thing will have shut down! )

There was a restaurant owner/chef on the local news the other evening. His restaurant well-booked but he's struggling to find another chef even though he's offered increased pay and free accommodation. At the moment he's doing all the cooking himself but is desperate for help

The hospitality industry was quite heavily dependent on EU workers, who don't particularly want to come to the UK any more.

FannyCornforth

But there’s more to it than that.
It’s good when people have lots of disposable income, it keeps the economy going.
The people who do all the jobs that travels does will be out of work. Even less disposable income…
Cafes and pubs will close too.
(I’m particularly thinking of my local here - by the time I’m ready to start going out and about again (I haven’t been to the pub in over two years) the blooming thing will have shut down! )

There was a restaurant owner/chef on the local news the other evening. His restaurant well-booked but he's struggling to find another chef even though he's offered increased pay and free accommodation. At the moment he's doing all the cooking himself but is desperate for help

Reinstating I mean - I don’t think the losses this year will be recouped.

Zonne

With regard to benefits, in his car-crash interview yesterday, Johnson reiterated that the government won’t increase them further, as this would be inflationary. It’s nonsense, and, as has been pointed out, purely ideological.

And it’s been suggested this means goodbye triple lock again.

I really can’t see them not increasing the triple lock, if pensioners don’t vote for them, who will?

With regard to benefits, in his car-crash interview yesterday, Johnson reiterated that the government won’t increase them further, as this would be inflationary. It’s nonsense, and, as has been pointed out, purely ideological.

And it’s been suggested this means goodbye triple lock again.

Jane43

MaizieD much as I despise this government the £150 isn’t a loan, it is for council tax payers in Bands A to D but I believe those exempt from council tax won’t get it. The £200 to come later in the year will be a loan to be repaid over several years and most people don’t want it.

Those in a Band A-D property will get it, even if they are exempt. My son is a full-time student and rents a property, but doesn't pay council tax. He told me that the forms he's had to fill in are confusing, so he's probably not the only one who hasn't understood properly.

I think people would have budgeted for the bill for last winter though, because the prices hadn’t increased. I know some are very short of money, but I think next winter is going to be so hard for many people, I hate to think of older people and young families going cold, and possibly hungry too, when this money could have been a massive help to them then.

I guess heating bills sent out in April covered previous, colder, months.

Does anybody know what the logic was for this money being paid now rather than in the autumn, as prices went up in April, when heating bills start to reduce? I would have thought most people would have preferred it to help later, and will have spent it by the autumn?

Jane autumn may be a long way off but in the meantime we have the warmer months when heating bills won’t be such a worry.

Jane43

MaizieD much as I despise this government the £150 isn’t a loan, it is for council tax payers in Bands A to D but I believe those exempt from council tax won’t get it. The £200 to come later in the year will be a loan to be repaid over several years and most people don’t want it.

Apologies for my mixing the two up.

MaizieD much as I despise this government the £150 isn’t a loan, it is for council tax payers in Bands A to D but I believe those exempt from council tax won’t get it. The £200 to come later in the year will be a loan to be repaid over several years and most people don’t want it.

MaizieD

I posted this somewhere else last week, Katie59, but I think it is pertinent here:

...faced with a burgeoning economic crisis, this post-Brexit government is bereft of workable ideas. Its flagship policy has proved an economic dud, but it is inherent in the government’s very formation to be unable to admit that, or to produce any policies that might ameliorate it. Having smashed up the old order, all they can do is stare in slack-jawed bemusement at the rubble around them, like a convention of peculiarly vandalistic village idiots who accidentally got control of a wrecking-ball.

They are ideologically opposed to increasing benefits. I bet they won't do it. They couldn't even bear to fund electricity users to get £150 off their massive bills this year. They forced a 'loan' on us that will have to be paid back regardless of whether or not people, such as very new customers, have even used any electricity. And tried to make it look like a big favour to the populace.

In a Q and A with Mumsnet Sunak said it would be foolish to give more help at the moment. Here is what he said:

Asked about the possibility of more support, Mr Sunak said: “Now I know people are worried about it and wondering if they’re going to go up even more, and I’ve been clear from the start That we’ll see what happens. And depending on what happens to the bills, of course, if we need to act for people and provide support, we will.

“But it would be foolish to do this now or last month or month before when we don’t know what the situation will be in autumn. So I would say we will see where we are with that if we need to do more.”

Autumn is an eternity for some people who are struggling. The lack of empathy and understanding is astounding.

Forgot the link:

chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2022/

I posted this somewhere else last week, Katie59, but I think it is pertinent here:

...faced with a burgeoning economic crisis, this post-Brexit government is bereft of workable ideas. Its flagship policy has proved an economic dud, but it is inherent in the government’s very formation to be unable to admit that, or to produce any policies that might ameliorate it. Having smashed up the old order, all they can do is stare in slack-jawed bemusement at the rubble around them, like a convention of peculiarly vandalistic village idiots who accidentally got control of a wrecking-ball.

They are ideologically opposed to increasing benefits. I bet they won't do it. They couldn't even bear to fund electricity users to get £150 off their massive bills this year. They forced a 'loan' on us that will have to be paid back regardless of whether or not people, such as very new customers, have even used any electricity. And tried to make it look like a big favour to the populace.

MaizieD

^One way or another benefits will have to go up as well.^

How do you think that is going to happen, Katie59?

This is the government that took away the £20 'uplift to UC. That voted not to feed poor children in the holidays during lock down, that took away the pension triple lock and is now imposing unnecessary taxation on us in the name of 'repaying' money that we don't actually owe.

Can you really see them increasing benefits?

If enough voters put enough pressure on MPs it will happen, with prices going up the government is collecting more VAT, a lot more and can afford it

Chewbacca

I tend to only do a "cupboard staples" shop once a month and was astonished yesterday to see that prices have rocketed so much since last month. I've no idea how families with growing children are coping, especially if they're on fixed incomes with no leeway to earn more.

I only drink one brand of instant coffee so I know how much it costs on my online order. This week I needed a hat and noticed it is now £4.50 instead of £3.50 which I paid last month. It was not on offer last month, it had been that price for a long time.