Don't pay!

[cromwell]

Maggie policy was to have nuclear power stations, unfortunately the 'Green lobby' campaigned against it. We would have had 20 of the things by now if she had her way.

Why do we need the middle men?

[Nick]

Well it's not just power is it,never mind don't pay we've been paying the price for the folly that was the blessed maggies much vaunted policy for decades now.

Maggie policy was to have nuclear power stations, unfortunately the 'Green lobby' campaigned against it. We would have had 20 of the things by now if she had her way. 

[Good old]

Well it doesn't take that much to set up a public owned company before winter to supply energy,after all these lot don't produce the energy  they just buy it and sell it on to us.

But they won't and the nonsense that we'd all benefit when it was first sold off to be replaced by competition amongst middle men has got us where we are today.

There is no doubt Thatcher started this whole cycle that has led us here. Yes others continued with much of what she installed, but there is no doubt who set the way we have lived from her time on.
Selling our own industries, privatising as many as possible services , usually ending up in foreign hands. Encouraging any form of business practise as long as it appeared to produce a profit, asset stripping being considered profitable, and invariably practised by a foreign interest.  Its endless but possibly the biggest influencer on individuals was bringing credit to every door, to the degree that most people have massive debt, many not realising how much until a moment such as we now confront.
This is that Pol Tax moment, or it should be , because quiet honestly other than create big time and publicly there is little else that Joe Soap can do. Maybe folk were different back then, because it would seem people are slow to actually react now. If ever there was an example of why governments should have muscle and not be created to small to act  when the very system they live by  shites on them , it's now.

[cromwell]

You had better come up with something fast then, as the screws are being tightened.

UK economy shrinks by 0.6 per cent as Britain heads for winter recession (msn.com)

Well it doesn't take that much to set up a public owned company before winter to supply energy,after all these lot don't produce the energy  they just buy it and sell it on to us.

But they won't and the nonsense that we'd all benefit when it was first sold off to be replaced by competition amongst middle men has got us where we are today.

[Sheepy]

No they don't have us over a barrel,the govt could do what Baz suggested and set up a company to supply consumers.

You had better come up with something fast then, as the screws are being tightened. 

UK economy shrinks by 0.6 per cent as Britain heads for winter recession (msn.com)

[cromwell]

I dont think she is defending energy companies she is promoting the UK as a safe  place in which to invest and build industry . That when your company is successful and makes profit the government will not take that away in windfall taxes . The problem with the energy companies is that we need them more than they need us ,they in effect have us over a barrel
But yes she is not talking to us , she is speaking to them

No they don't have us over a barrel,the govt could do what Baz suggested and set up a company to supply consumers.

[Sheepy]

Sunak pledges £10bn to help vulnerable with soaring energy bills (msn.com)
I am a frigging mind reader, well probably not, I just know how they work it.
Some temporary one of borrowing my backside.  

[Sheepy]

I dont think she is defending energy companies she is promoting the UK as a safe  place in which to invest and build industry . That when your company is successful and makes profit the government will not take that away in windfall taxes . The problem with the energy companies is that we need them more than they need us ,they in effect have us over a barrel
But yes she is not talking to us , she is speaking to them

We have always said selling off the basic commodities which a country relies on for basic survival was a huge mistake, you reap what you sow. I don't remember that, well how about when we said relying on the French for energy needs was a huge mistake.

[Sheepy]

The problem with refusal to pay is that millions of us are dependent upon access to credit just to get by. If we stop paying bills our access to credit will be withdrawn. Not paying is not something many of us can afford to do. I get big bills sometimes usually associated with my car which is an essential item and needs to be kept on the road so I can get to work. Rarely can I afford a big car-related expense out of a single pay packet and have to spread it over several via credit cards. If I lost access to credit this would be impossible. I cannot afford to risk joining any non-payment campaign. Only those so poor that they have no credit access would have little to lose by doing so.

As for Boris, he clearly isn't interested anymore, and Truss seems to be promising about as much help to those who truly need it most as a chocolate teapot.

Options for cost of living help will be 'ready' for new PM, says chancellor (msn.com)
We will see how long 37 billion lasts when the screws are really turned, Good Old will be having an orgasm.

[Streetwalker]

Now Liz Truss is defending the energy companies and (by implication) their obscene profiteering at the expense of the British people. Of course her remarks are directed at the die-hard Tory Party members who she hopes will vote for her. 

I dont think she is defending energy companies she is promoting the UK as a safe  place in which to invest and build industry . That when your company is successful and makes profit the government will not take that away in windfall taxes . The problem with the energy companies is that we need them more than they need us ,they in effect have us over a barrel 
But yes she is not talking to us , she is speaking to them 

[srb7677]

Is anyone planning to support/join the Don't Pay movement that is growing in strength? I see that the CEOs of the big power companies rolled up to No 10 today to get an earful from Boris and the Treasury, but there was more of a whimper than a roar by the sound of it. Decisions remain for the new Pm whoever that is. Where do they go from here?

The problem with refusal to pay is that millions of us are dependent upon access to credit just to get by. If we stop paying bills our access to credit will be withdrawn. Not paying is not something many of us can afford to do. I get big bills sometimes usually associated with my car which is an essential item and needs to be kept on the road so I can get to work. Rarely can I afford a big car-related expense out of a single pay packet and have to spread it over several via credit cards. If I lost access to credit this would be impossible. I cannot afford to risk joining any non-payment campaign. Only those so poor that they have no credit access would have little to lose by doing so.

As for Boris, he clearly isn't interested anymore, and Truss seems to be promising about as much help to those who truly need it most as a chocolate teapot.

[HDQQ]

Now Liz Truss is defending the energy companies and (by implication) their obscene profiteering at the expense of the British people. Of course her remarks are directed at the die-hard Tory Party members who she hopes will vote for her. But will even they buy into what she's saying? A lot of them will have soaring energy bills and declining living standards. Truss promises big tax cuts but public services and infrastructure are already in a bad place and will deteriorate further with reduced funding. Anyway the 'big tax cuts' are likely to be an illusion - giving with one hand while taking with the other.

What Truss is saying to the Tory Party now will come back to haunt her in the run-up to the next election in a couple of years time - even if she doesn't become PM.

As for "Don't Pay" - it will need a large number of people participating right at the start otherwise non-payers will just be taken through the arrears process and end up in court. 

An energy strike might be an alternative, although most of us are being quite careful about consumption anyway. But if there was a campaign to only use your car for essential journeys, that could make a noticeable dent in fuel sales.

[T00ts]

I am a fairly new customer with Octapus, is anyone else? They remind me for a meter reading every month. Last month they gave me the option of cancelling my payment because I was too far in credit caused by the sudden warm weather and reduction of heating etc, which I did. I pay by DD (not Deppity )  but will be interested to see how this works as we head into Winter. Other suppliers have charged me the same amount all year but this is supposed to be different and I feel more that I am paying for what is used.

[Sheepy]

As I've repeatedly said here and elsewhere, I cancelled my DD about a year ago. I wrote to tell them I had, and I was leaving them as soon as I found a suitable company that allowed payment upon presentation of a bill for actual use like it used to be before these monthly direct debits.

I was contacted within hours. The CEO was the signatory so it's obviously customer retention. They said they were sorry to see me go but we're happy to send me a bill for what I actually used at the end of each month while I was looking for another supplier

I get a meter reading each month and a bill for actual usage. I then have to pay that in a bit less than 14 days. Which I do

But here's the thing. Even though I'm on the capped variable tariff which was supposed to be what 40% higher my bills are a few quid LOWER than the DD last year showing how much they ripped me off.

Given no one really has a better deal I would urge you to try this as it is crystal clear companies have been ripping us off and the "recommended" direct debit is over double what my actual bill is now. Yes I know it's summer and yes I expect it to get grim in December and yes I'll happily riot if I get the chance but my experience for about 12 months now is nothing like the armageddon they're promising..

They are just engineering another crisis just like the last one but a new one. So, the plebs will run around like headless chickens saying they have to help us, the usual suspects will blame Brexit because they are as dumb as rocks and the fat cat's get fatter just like they did last time, no come backs.

[johnofgwent]

The only person who ever gained anything through not paying a bill was that bloody idiot Dawn Prinarolo who got promoted WAY above her IQ when Peter Mandelsins corrupt and criminal fraud with his mortgage implicated her boss who lost his job as Paymaster General as a result, giving it to her.

Personally I always suspected Mandelson acted as he did deliberately. 

The irony is although many think the bitch a martyr to the cause her poll tax bill was actually paid by activists who wanted the Benn admiring asshole kept out of prison in order to remain a pliable MP.