Outlook is as bleak as it has been for a looooooong time - 
Tories been in charge for a looooooong time -
More people than makes sense pissing and moaning about Labour -
Something really doesn’t add up here.
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I just can’t warm to Starmer at all. But there’s no comparison with the 2 sociopaths that are the current PM options
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I have mostly been ambivalent towards Starmer.
Though I have warmed to him in recent months. He seems to have a strategy - I cannot understand it or work it out, but it appears to be effective.
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It seems to be ‘let the Tories do their stuff’!
I don’t disagree but these people are the ones screaming for Starmer to lay his cards on the table, probably so they can lay into that as well.
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Meanwhile the Tory whip list posted @legalalien in the interesting finds thread has Liz Truss fornicating with researchers and sexual relations with Kwazi Kwarteng.
I bet you all rush over there and look for that now.
Does that have anything to do with opening new pork markets?
Or is it simply that you can never tell what she’s trying to say as her body and head language are so contradictory (and noone can be blamed for not understanding the drivel that she spouts)?
Sunak’s list must be really damning!
He might have a point that Labour ought to be doing more to support the striking workers, but this quite clearly demonstrates why he’s been sacked, and rightly so. You just don’t defy your leader in public like this. Add to that the reporting that he’s pulling this as a stunt because he’s about to be deselected, and it really doesn’t paint him in a good light at all.
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Retro fitting a home can get very expensive ,especially so at this time.If people are struggling to make ends meet then how are they going to afford to insulated their homes well enough to bring down energy cost associated with running their households.Add to that the lack of tradesmen to carry out this work means for the majority of people that this would benefit ,right now it would be a non runner.
To tax those who we see as over using these fuels makes these needs a commodity only afforded by people with money to burn.
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Retrofit programs work in the arc of multiple years. Good policy, irrelevant to this crisis.
If some people are going to be subsidized in their energy use, someone has to pay for it from some activity. Taxing high energy use is the socially optimal, because it encourages a shift away.
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I agree with what you say but its of no benefit to low income workers right now .To retrofit a typical home which needs it in Ireland has been put at a cost around €50k.The government will subsidise it to around 50% i think but the homeowner needs to pay for it first and then apply for the subsidy.Nobody on the breadline could afford to do this and it will be 10-20 years before it pays itself back.The UK probably has a similar cost and scheme to cover it.
While taxing is a way to get people to use less,those same people as above are already making that choice between food or heating .I’d be fairly sure they are no longer excessive in their own opinion but when those who make policy set the bar too low ,people are going to use more than governments decide is reasonable.
We need to tackle our over reliance on fossil fuels but taxing people already too far stretched is not the answer .Give people a cheaper alternative,even if that means government putting up the money first for wind farms,solar or wave power ,and people will use it.
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Definitely - the time scale of energy retrofit just cannot respond to a supply-demand imbalance in the market right now.
The government doesn’t ‘have’ money. One way or another, taxpayers or energy users need to pay for any kind of energy transition. You can pay for it with energy tariffs, you can pay for it by taxes on another activity, you can pay for it now or defer payment over time, but you need to pay for it. There is no ‘cheaper alternative’. The energy costs what it costs. But note that my comment was a reaction to Mascot’s suggestion that high energy use should be taxed, with a certain proportion of energy bills at a lower tariff. If you are using twice the national average of energy, the chances of you making choices between food and heating are extremely small.
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Haha. Unenforceable.
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Maybe, but still an absolute disgrace.
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Does the House of Lords play any meaningful role? What’s the use of its existence?
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