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As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

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Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#71

Post by lostlogin »

beardyw wrote: post #54
Jochim wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also in the UK. Personally I'm sick of seeing our government cosy up to authoritarian regimes because they have something we happen to want. In the UK we're particularly unlucky in that the people currently in charge don't really care if the poor in our society freeze or starve as they've stated so astutely in the recent leadership contest. The rest of the G7 at least seem prepared to shield their population as much…

> the people currently in charge don't really care if the poor in our society freeze or starve as they've stated so astutely in the recent leadership contest. I am prepared to believe that until next week they are fully aware that the people who will elect them genuinely don't care about the poor. After that I hope the idea of getting re-elected by the public will induce a sudden change of plan, if not heart.

I hope you are right, but nothing in recent history would suggest you you.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#72

Post by brnt »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #9
Jochim wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also in the UK. Personally I'm sick of seeing our government cosy up to authoritarian regimes because they have something we happen to want. In the UK we're particularly unlucky in that the people currently in charge don't really care if the poor in our society freeze or starve as they've stated so astutely in the recent leadership contest. The rest of the G7 at least seem prepared to shield their population as much…

>alternatives that don't require us to prop up quasi-dictatorships in order to keep the lights on But how? The entire economy of the city of London is based on being the word's money laundering capital, vacation playground and best buddy for Russian Oligarchs, Saudi Royals, CCP big shots and other wealthy dictators and warlords. It's Thacher's legacy.

I think it's deeply ingrained in British culture, through its very much alive social class system. Precisely what Brits (seem to?) like about that qaint system is what makes it possible to maintain such a careless elite class that is not only not punished for creating extractive vehicles such as the City, but even praised and rewarded for it, through British identity politics. "Great" Britain, world power, A-rank capital, and so on.

Brits never saw a social revolution, and it shows.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#73

Post by bArray »

Gravityloss wrote: post #62

Britain has for a long time neglected energy efficiency improvements and investment in renewable energy. The houses are the worst insulated in Europe [1]. UK has extremely good wind resources, very mild winters, bearable summers, a lot of capital available, a generally organized society. As a starting point, from energy point of view, it is extremely advantageous compared to say Finland or Germany. Now vote someone w…

> Britain has for a long time neglected energy efficiency improvements and investment in renewable energy.

Like the EU nations, the UK was designed and built to use energy in what seemed like a sustainable way. Obviously every Country in Europe is now reconsidering what to make reductions.

If anything this is quite promising for the UK's winter, as there are so many quick-win improvements to be made (assuming we can get sufficient supplies of insulation).

> The houses are the worst insulated in Europe [1].

The majority of the UK doesn't get too much below zero, spending a brief time at -10 degrees. Places in Europe can reach -30/-40 for a sustained period.

We're also talking about houses that are quite old and hard to upgrade (if not impossible due to restrictions).

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#74

Post by MrRiddle »

mellavora wrote: post #16
curiousgal wrote: post #2

Okay this is a genuine question but why are the G7 not backing down when clearly their populations are the ones suffering? It feels strange to me living in the UK that the sanctions have been spearheaded by the US when they are mostly shielded from Russia. Whereas for European countries, it is obvious that they are dependent on Russian gas and yet they are not willing to negotiate. The average citizen cares about the…

Counter-argument. Why are the G7 not increasing the aid to Ukraine, to more quickly end the war and force Russia to settle?

They are trying to quickly end the war, it’s Russia who’s prolonging it on purpose. Russia attacked with 1 against 4 in manpower, and is completely fine with the war lasting for a long time.

We now see how western powers are forcing Ukraine to do devastating counter offensives that will lead to quicker defeat. And even then I think Russia will take its time.

We’re approaching a 10 year long business cycle where cheap energy is everything, and Russian’s know that. There is no way out without huge money printing to replace Russian energy, all the while we finished biggest money printing cycle in our lifetimes.

Russia waited since 2014 and chose a best time. Europe will fold sooner or later.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#75

Post by ThePadawan »

ReptileMan wrote: post #58
ignoramous wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quasi-Xenophobes are well and truly out of their closet.

I am full blown xenophobe, not quasi, but not in this case since I was from her home country and were visiting her for a week - but we spend probably half an hour in Zurich trying to find someone that knows the place and speak German or French at acceptable level to give us directions. It was during the late evening and out of 15 people we stopped like one was swiss.

I'm sorry to hear you had such an outlier of an experience - I've never been met with anything except understanding when asking for directions in any of the national languages.

> we spend probably half an hour in Zurich trying to find someone that knows the place and speak German or French at acceptable level to give us directions. It was during the late evening and out of 15 people we stopped like one was swiss.

Stopped...successfully? And does Swiss German count as "an acceptable level of German" :)? I don't find it hard to believe that 14 people would pass you by (as people would in a major city), but I find it hard to believe that out of 14 people, none would speak the major national languages.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#76

Post by lostlogin »

majesticmerc wrote: post #42
Jochim wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also in the UK. Personally I'm sick of seeing our government cosy up to authoritarian regimes because they have something we happen to want. In the UK we're particularly unlucky in that the people currently in charge don't really care if the poor in our society freeze or starve as they've stated so astutely in the recent leadership contest. The rest of the G7 at least seem prepared to shield their population as much…

It's also worth remembering that Russian forces have committed an assassination [0] on UK soil using radioactive material, and attempted another one that was bungled and killed an innocent English police officer _in England_ [1]. The general feeling towards Russia in the UK is very hostile, and there are certainly a huge number of people happy to put the squeeze on Putin. There is little to no enthusiasm for appeasem…

> The general feeling towards Russia in the UK is very hostile

It’s complicated though, as the money is loved, despite the toxic effect on property prices and political parties.

While BJ has made a show of his support for Ukraine, his relationship with Russia has been interesting.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#77

Post by bArray »

moomin wrote: post #57

Honestly, this article understates the situation. Everyone is bricking it. I go to the barbers, the barber wants to talk about it. I go to get a burger, the server wants to talk about it. A really large chunk of the country is doing calculations and really not liking the results. Small businesses and charities are already receiving their new contract quotes and deciding to shut down. And our next Prime Minister shows…

> Honestly, this article understates the situation. Everyone is bricking it.

Yeah, it's really quite bad. I'm yet to talk to anybody who isn't worried about this, from low class to upper class.

> Small businesses and charities are already receiving their new contract quotes and deciding to shut down.

Sadly we will now lose many historic institutions that COVID lockdowns didn't quite manage to kill off. Some pubs for example have been around for hundreds of years.

> And our next Prime Minister shows exactly no sign of caring about or even understanding the seriousness of the situation.

I believe I saw Boris _finally_ committing to building new nuclear power stations, but this is maybe 10 years too late. Nuclear power was such an obvious quick win in terms of energy security, green climate action and energy costs. I hope the UK is able to keep its remaining reactors online a while longer until new ones can be phased in.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#78

Post by MrRiddle »

ShivShankaran wrote: post #23
jibbit wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve guessed incorrectly how much the average citizen cares about standing up to Putin. Most people believe that the consequences of not standing up to him would be far worse

Impressive how much propaganda can achieve. The average citizen also wanted to stand up to Saddam, Gaddafi, xi , Al Assad before they take over the world

Interesting how people care about Ukraine where Russian actions are arguably very localized to military targets but no one is concerned for over 500k dead in Iraq and their current civil war, all caused by certain NATO countries. Half of the ME is on fire, but no one care. Just a bunch of hypocrites.

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#79

Post by lostlogin »

cm2187 wrote: post #67
Jochim wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The free market excuses work for luxury goods but they don't work for necessities. Prices have already reached the point where a large percentage of the population will not be able to afford any form of heating whatsoever over the winter. As a country we already know that a non-insignificant number of people develop serious illness or die because of a lack of heating. Making the choice to take no action further compo…

They will afford heating, only they will heat just the room they need at the temperature they need rather than heating to comfort. And keep in mind, if demand goes down, prices go down.

Will everyone afford heating? The most painful point hasn’t been reached yet and some reports suggest it’s got a long way to go (tripling by the end of winter).

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-20/price-cap...

Re: As Britain awaits a new prime minister, its cost-of-living crisis mounts

#80

Post by sofixa »

cm2187 wrote: post #67
Jochim wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The free market excuses work for luxury goods but they don't work for necessities. Prices have already reached the point where a large percentage of the population will not be able to afford any form of heating whatsoever over the winter. As a country we already know that a non-insignificant number of people develop serious illness or die because of a lack of heating. Making the choice to take no action further compo…

They will afford heating, only they will heat just the room they need at the temperature they need rather than heating to comfort. And keep in mind, if demand goes down, prices go down.

> They will afford heating, only they will heat just the room they need at the temperature they need rather than heating to comfort

How do you know this? Did you do the math? And you know it's not just heating, right, it's electricity too. They'll eat only raw food to not waste energy on ovens and cooktops?

> And keep in mind, if demand goes down, prices go down.

Not with external pressure (war) and near total lack of supply no it doesn't.

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