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A further response to an expected jump in UK household energy bills to an average of over £4,200 early next year.
In January, several 1000s of people owed up to £10k in unpaid energy bills. Nothing like this has ever happened. And no plans are made! Boris went on a wonderful holiday. As someone tweeted, “The rich have forgotten to fear the poor.”
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) August 9, 2022
The proposed NI tax rollback for the average household will not cover even a tenth of the energy bill rise predicted in January. https://t.co/JkDcn86AP2
— Sam Friedman (@Samfr) August 9, 2022
“My promise from day one is that people … will have lower energy bills,” says Liz Truss.
The latest forecast suggests that the energy price cap will rise to *£4,200* early next year. pic.twitter.com/2sbxcRt8RD
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) August 9, 2022
We’ve got new information on energy policy from the favorite to become the UK’s next Prime Minister.
Asked by Reuters if she would provide direct support to her family, Liz Truss said:
What I don’t believe is taxing people to a higher level in 70 years and getting them their money back.
Truss, the foreign secretary, is seen as a front-runner in the race for the Conservative leadership, with the party leading the polls. Energy price inflation (in the words of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation) will no doubt be a “coming disaster” and will be a top political priority for the winner. The decision will be made by September 5.
UK faces ‘looming danger’ without help on energy bills – thinktank
According to the poverty think tank, the UK faces “looming danger” and “a very serious problem”.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the £400 payment to every UK household announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in May would not be enough to cope with expected energy costs over the winter.
Energy researchers from Cornwall Insights, which is closely watched by the industry and politicians, predicted on Tuesday that the average annual energy bill allowed by the government’s rate cap could rise by more than £4,200 in January.
Peter MatejicChief Analyst at Joseph Rowntree Foundationhe said:
The latest forecast of annual energy bills of more than £4,200 from January is the latest in a series of dire warnings from the Bank of England and others last week. Low-income families can’t afford these eyewashes and as a nation we can’t afford to ignore the looming threat.
Both prime ministerial candidates should be aware of the rapidly changing situation and take steps to prevent future emergencies.
Day-to-day action is being delayed, raising concerns for low-income families who don’t know how to make ends meet this winter. Payments promised by the government at the start of the year provided some relief but their success has been outpaced by events and must now at least be doubled if people are to be kept out of serious trouble.
Joanna Partridge
Dock workers at the port of Felixstowe have been given a £500 bonus to end an eight-day strike planned for the end of this month at Britain’s biggest container port.
Around 1,900 dockworkers have voted to go on strike between August 21 and 29 over a pay dispute with Felixstowe Dock and Rail Co., which runs the Suffolk port.
The Hong Kong-owned port has offered workers a one-off payment of £500 following ongoing negotiations by Acas, a conciliation service between the company and unions.
The company said that the unions will provide the bonus offer to their members. However, he added that the hourly workers union at Felixstowe would not be given the opportunity to vote on the offer.
A spokesman for the port said:
There are no winners in the strike, it’s just a loss of money that their members have earned. Our focus is on finding a solution that works for our employees and protects the future success of the port.
The union rejected the organization’s request to meet again.
Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, which owns three mobile phone networks and health care retailer Superdrug, has not had a strike at the port since 1989.
Any extended strike would have an impact on the UK’s supply chain, further knocking the British economy into recession.
The logistics center handles around 40% of all containers entering and leaving the UK – representing around 45,000 containers each week – filled with cargo including consumer goods, clothing and packaged food.
Morgan Wilde, head of policy at Citizens Advice, responded to Cornwall Insight’s new forecast for household energy bills of up to £4,200 from January.
The cost of living crisis is taking a toll on people’s lives. Every day we hear from people who can’t afford to turn on the lights or cook their children a hot meal.
The government has done the right thing by bringing in targeted support, but there will not be enough people to manage these previously unthinkable price increases. The obvious place to start is to increase benefits to keep up with the cost of living. There is no time to waste.
The head of the Confederation of British Industry, Boris Johnson, has called for urgent action to help people facing higher energy bills, warning it is too late to stop until the Conservative leadership vote is over., The Guardian’s Rachel Hall reported.
Tony Danker told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that Johnson “needs to say something to the country to reassure people about what is going to happen”, before announcing the “horrific” rate hikes on August 26.
When the new prime minister was elected on September 5, he said, “When preparing for the emergency budget, they should tell us what will happen, not spend it for two weeks.”
Consumer champion and founder of the Moneysavingexpert website Martin Lewis tweeted about the prospect of rising energy bills and urged the government to act now.
Sad news
The latest @CornwallInsight The forecast, based on Ofgem’s new methodology, is an 81% rise in prices in October (taking a typical account to £3,582/year) and a further 19% in January (so £4,266/year).
Action and planning are needed now. The zombie government must be awakened before September 5th.
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 9, 2022
These amounts are not in the millions. Jan’s figure is equal to 45% of the new state pension plus the old maximum.
Adding to Jan’s forecast alone, since the grant was first announced in May, approximately £1,400/year…
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 9, 2022
That raise alone will not only help £400 to all homes, but even £1,200 to the poor.
This leaves many in poverty. Tax cuts will not help the poor, including many seniors and the disabled.
A green tax cut is just a small band-aid on a gaping wound…
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 9, 2022
The leadership debate must no longer ignore this critical national crisis.
– You cannot say that they were not warned
– The excuse that “we have to protect Ofgem’s image” doesn’t wash. In May, the Government asked Ofgem for future guidance and based on that they have put forward a plan. Now he can do the same.— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 9, 2022
An action plan is needed today
They are all in one party, instead of scoring personal points, let’s ask them to come together for the good of the country.
People’s livelihoods, mental well-being and in some cases lives depend on it.
This is desperate.
Pls share
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 9, 2022
Nurses in England and Wales to vote on strike over pay
Hundreds of thousands of nurses in England and Wales will vote next month on a series of strikes over pay.
The strike will begin on September 15 and run until October 13, according to the Royal College of Nursing, the largest union representing nurses.
Helen Hailey, the RCN’s director for Wales, told Times Radio that more than 250,000 nurses would be nominated. If they vote to strike, it will be the first walkout in the RCN’s 106-year history.
The union says a £1,400 pay rise announced by the government last month is not enough to offset the impact of rising consumer prices. UK inflation has hit a 40-year high of 9.4% and is set to rise to more than 13% in the coming months, pushing up energy and food costs.
RCN Council Chair Carol Popplestone said in a message to union members:
This year’s salary award will not help you with the cost of living. It does nothing to help hire or retain more nursing staff where you work and does not protect patient safety.
A strike would mean further disruption to an already inadequate health service. Due to the rising cost of living, many other sectors, including railway workers, have gone on strike.
A bit of good news…
Birmingham is expecting a summer tourist boom as the city’s reputation gets a boost from the Commonwealth Games.The 11-day sporting event is coming to an end, business leaders said, Our Midlands correspondent Jessica Murray reports.
The event was declared a huge success for the Midlands city with more than 1.5m tickets sold – on track to become one of the most successful Commonwealth Games in history.
Neil Ramey, chief executive of West Midlands Development Company, said: “I can safely say this will be the busiest August Birmingham has ever experienced. “You just have to see the crowds on the streets. We were forecasting about 85% hotel occupancy, but when we talked to some hotel managers it was closer to 95% so we are very full.
Sterling, Euro strengthening
In financial markets ahead of tomorrow’s U.S. inflation report, the U.S. dollar hit a recent high.
The pound strengthened 0.36% to $1.2119, while the euro was at $1.0236 against the dollar, a gain of 0.4%. The yen was held at 134.94 per dollar.
Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney, told Reuters.
The market is waiting for the numbers to come back, rather than moving in anticipation of them.
We got six CPI [consumer price index] In this year’s numbers, four of the six were surprises… but the impact on the dollar is a bit ambiguous.
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