I believe that was one of the threats she issued to the guy lol
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Gas & Electricity
- Thread starter apple pie corner
- Start date
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
It's a business, there to make money and profits for it's shareholders and fat cat board, there is no sentiment in business, they don't care if families are freezing....blame Thatcher.it's a huge rip off...............the whole system is a con and these companies have no shame.
Most of those regulators for gas, electric, water etc are all pretty useless imho.Well that’s not exactly true. OFGEM control the price cap and review it every three months hence why we should see the cap reducing in June. For many years we’ve enjoyed a competitive market but that led to a large proportion of businesses in the industry going bust leading to a non-competitive situation. History shows that when prices increase due to spike issues they generally take a while to fall back to the normal market rate and that’s everything. Businesses are loathe to suddenly revoke price increases to pre-spike values in case the issue returns but what tends to happen is they start to lose customers and new suppliers come on board to pick up the churn which in turn pushes the market back to the norm. It isn’t instant though.
You could argue the rate that OFGEM sets but without them it could be worse.
One example: the environmental agency has the power to order increased investment to prevent sewage run off into rivers. It has never used this power.
Too easy to blame Thatcher. By the time she became PM all those public utilities were bankrupt and losing money. The taxpayer was having to make up the shortfall and there was no money for investment. What would you have done?It's a business, there to make money and profits for it's shareholders and fat cat board, there is no sentiment in business, they don't care if families are freezing....blame Thatcher.
Admittedly much of the privatising programme was poorly done, some of which could be blamed on her and the ministers, but I dont know what alternative there was.
The key problem for all nationalized industry is investment failure. No chancellor is going to put billions into the tax regime to pay for it; not popular and would lose votes. Hence they ultimately fail.
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
She went big on the culture of privatisation. Promised costs would be lower because of competition. Water, Rail etc..Yeah right, how did that pan out ?.Too easy to blame Thatcher. By the time she became PM all those public utilities were bankrupt and losing money. The taxpayer was having to make up the shortfall and there was no money for investment. What would you have done?
Admittedly much of the privatising programme was poorly done, some of which could be blamed on her and the ministers, but I dont know what alternative there was.
The key problem for all nationalized industry is investment failure. No chancellor is going to put billions into the tax regime to pay for it; not popular and would lose votes. Hence they ultimately fail.
Quite well, actually. It was about yr 2000 that domestic energy rose to its level at privatisation after many years of lower costs.She went big on the culture of privatisation. Promised costs would be lower because of competition. Water, Rail etc..Yeah right, how did that pan out ?.
Myths abound, which is one way of getting the next policy wrong.
I still am at a loss as to whatever else could have been done.
For example, on investment. Imagine the Chancellor standing at the despatch box:
”So income tax will rise to pay for investment in sewer renewal and the increase in NHS provision will be postponed for 5 years.” Not many votes in that, but the sewers in Manchester for instance were collapsing all over the city, not having been maintained since they were built.
People forget, so Tony Blair when faced with the same problem of investment needed for new NHS hospitals, paid for them all with Public and Private Partnership deals and today all those hospitals are effectively rented from the private sector.
Calling for renationalisation is romantic but nobody ever says where investment will come from.
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Uncle Wally One Ball
Well-Known Member
We are being fucking fleeced.
It’s a national disgrace that certain parties are overseeing as huge companies literally money grab.
It is scandalous. Appalling that is no govt intervention to put a stop to it. How can people elected to represent the interests of their people let this happen
We have a regulator to do that.It is scandalous. Appalling that is no govt intervention to put a stop to it. How can people elected to represent the interests of their people let this happen
We have a regulator to do that.
That is not fit for purpose