I have just googled the cost of a 15kg bottle of butane (refill), in the UK, and it came back as £53. Two days ago I bought a refill of butane, same size bottle, in Spain and it was less than €20. I bought a refill about 5 weeks ago and it was just over €20. Some governments are helping with the cost of utilities.
My energy costs revised downwards from 5/5 reflecting lower wholesale prices. Elec kWh€ 0,74953 new € 0,40874 Gas per m3 € 2,40679 new € 1,33407
I can’t work out my cost per unit as my cost per unit varies by the time of day and I haven’t tried to work it out. I just see what the charge is each month and see if I think it is reasonable. I moved out here, full time, 07/08/22 and the total I have paid for my electric for the 8 month period is €552.46, which I am happy with. My most expensive month was when I was running the air con pretty much nonstop Aug-September and my second most expensive month was February, which was very cold here and I had plugged in an extra heater. I actually received an email from my supplier that month to advise me that my usage had almost doubled and offered advice on how to cut usage. I switched from the extra electric heater to a gas heater, to boost temperature. I am lucky in the winter months as I can use natural resources to warm my home, ie the sun, so I don’t need the heating on all day. I use gas for hot water and the hob, and a bottle will generally last 4-5 weeks (so on current cost 12 bottles per annum approximately €240) even allowing for me to shower daily. It’s a bitch when the gas bottle runs out mid shower though, especially if covered in soap.
I think you are too quick to point the finger at those on here who you feel lean to the Left, probably including me, but I don't blame you. I'll answer your post the best I can and hope it goes someway towards convincing you that so called 'Left Leaning' folk like me do see the faults in the whole political system and not just the Right ****ers. The 'Left' are just as big ****ers, in fact I would say the whole political class in the UK are a bunch of rotten arse wipes and are more interested in power than in trying to run the country in a way which might benefit the citizens of this country. The Americanisation of this thread is down to the fruit-bat commonly known as Osvaldorama and his willing accomplice known as Schad. Os is obsessed with America and sucks up everything that spews out of that **** hole of a ****ed up country. There are millions of lovely American citizens, just like there are millions of decent UK citizens, but when someone who adopts the position of an Internet Troll like Os has, and just repeats the daft stuff that some lunatics on Twitter post, it gets out of hand fast. Add into that Schad, who may live in Canada, (nothing ever happens in Canada), so he goes looking for the most obscure American garbage he can find and reposts it on here to back up the other American ****e he posts, like this garbage..... Maryland's top prosecutor accused Catholic Church officials in Baltimore on Wednesday of engaging in a yearslong cover-up of the sexual abuse of 600-plus children, some of whom were “preyed upon by multiple abusers over decades." No one talks about the SNP because they are just another messed up part of a broken and corrupt political system that promotes the so called 'elite' and holds the general population in contempt. Same with so called Labour with stiff Starmer at the helm. Another legalistic power seeking nobody who will probably manage to be mildly more palatable than the Tory shower of thieves and thugs, but it will be more of the same. Big business wins, corporations never pay the taxes they should and the general population gets screwed over every time. If you are a middle aged man who is comfortably well off, enjoy it while it lasts because with the way Biden is poking Russia and China, it may not be for long. Who would you vote for? I haven't a clue Billy but from where I sit you either vote for a Tory party which is overtly cruel and is guaranteed to keep the 'elites' where they are, and doesn't care whether you like it or not, or you vote for Labour, which is designed to appear softer, but is more than likely much of the above. Bottom line.....politics is completely broken, the world is a few steps away from nuclear armageddon and no one seems to have a clue how to back away from it. Not much positive Billy, but at least I have tried to be honest.
Surprised to see that the developments oin Scotland have not garnered as mich attention in here as has been the case with Mr Trump. Admittedly the situation is very much small potatoes compared to what is happening on th other side of the Atlantic but interesting none-the-less. It is a shame the Sturgeon's halo has slipped and disappointing to realise that the reasons for her resignation was probably prompted by knowing what was coming as opposed to being burn't out. The news report on "PM" on Radio 4 last night was fascinating as it implied that Hamza's appointment of First Mimister as the "continuity candidate" has probbly cooked his goose before he has had chance to get his feet under the table. There was a suggestion that a new broom will be needed to sweep the party clean and I think that Sturgeon's reputation will be seriously tarnished as a consewuence of the investigations. The police searchs did not look good on TV last night. It is an amazing turn of fortunes as seen from the perspective of England where Nicola Sturgeon seemed unassailable and , along with the PMS of New Zealand and Finland, looked to be part of a cadre of female leaders who made their male counterparts looked very old-fashioned, out of touch and suspect. The interviews on Radio Four last night very much hinted as a lot of disquiet within the SNP regarding how the party was run. I appreciate that NS was devisive, yet , south of the boarder, she was often perceived to have the moral upperhand against her English counterparts and seldom found to be wrong. It was no surprise that she polled as the most trusted leader of any of the political parties in an English survey taken a few years back. Personally, I think that she has probably been the most important political leader in the UK in the 21st century after Jeremy Corbyn. Both Corbyn and Sturgeon had an alternative vision for the UK that chimed with an element of the voters at the time and I think will continue to resonate in the future. A shame that Corbyn has been treated so shamefully by his politcal party and that Sturgeon's moral compass might have been pointing in a different directio whilst her husband played with the SNP's funds. I cannot see the SNP recovering from this debacle for some time and the cracks beneath the wallpaper have been exposed as quite significant.
If you wish to understand why I posted that "obscure American garbage", it's because your government has recently made a big deal about 'groomer gangs', suggesting that there are hordes of Pakistani men preying on white children, in a nakedly racist and completely disingenuous attempt to stoke fears. Similar charges have been leveled on both sides of the Atlantic against trans people. All completely unsubstantiated. And yet instances where hundreds of children have been systemically abused by clergy, and that the power structures of the church have been deployed to cover up that abuse and even perpetuate it, are so commonplace worldwide that yet another report that a church was the locus for the sexual abuse of hundreds of children constitutes "obscure American garbage". This instance happened in the US, but it's practically a weekly occurrence where a diocese somewhere in the world is found to have committed similar atrocities. It is a completely unremarkable event that generates exactly zero handwringing from those who are oh so concerned about the children, and that is precisely the point.
Thanks so much for your response. Your points highlighted much of how I feel. I generally can’t be arsed either way and think people on here go waaay over the top, it seems sad to me how much it dominates their lives. I mainly mentioned left leaning people on here as the posts appear 99% left leaning, in that they only ever appear to bash the Tories. I was just feeling that this serves no purpose and actually made me feel less of a labour supporter of that is all labour people are in to, as I don’t really seek out drama and confrontation in my life. I’ve genuinely been confused in my time on here and in the main the politics thread hasn’t taught me about Politics as such, just that people get so angry about it. I was how I recall the adults spoke when discussing it when I was a child, and this really is suppose is why I don’t understand it much. Like you, I don’t feel anyone in the UK would serve the people well enough, so I guess I don’t care enough to worry who is in charge. I am looking forward to this place 12-18 months after Labour win the next GE though, it will be weird seeing Badger, Jabbo and others bashing the incumbent government as much as they do now. Although this is a little tongue in cheek, as you will know. I also would like to know how labour or tories will affect my pay over the the course of a term in Parliament, how will affect my children etc. just seems so hard to find this out for someone like me.
As someone who spent his life in education, the Tories have totally ****ed my sector and pretty much every facet of public service life. The way they manipulate the public is disgusting. How dare they offer teachers a pay rise but not offer to pay for it. This is not even a one off. They play teacher pay off against the welfare of children, and then slam teachers for striking. Just spend one minute thinking about it. They are offering us a pay rise but not offering to pay for it. They are offering a pay rise but not offering ro pay for it. Just… no. No I can’t live under these pathetic arseholes any more.
If you are genuinely being serious about wanting to learn the truth about the world and how it operates; I can summarise your journey in three words: Follow. The. Money. Politics is WWF wrestling for adults. As you rightly pointed out, it means nothing. It’s empty promises and empty words. The real action happens above the political system, in the financial system. This is the real reason that America is the centre of most political debates - they have the global reserve currency. It has nothing to do with “being obsessed with America” as the uneducated poster above mentioned. America (specifically the Federal Reserve) is at the heart of everything in the financial (and therefore political) system. This means it has a disproportionate amount of impact on the world. I started where you are. People seem to think I’m crazy on here. But I’m not. I started fairly far left, studied as much as I could about politics and the world; and I’ve ended up somewhere in the centre (when measured globally). The uk is further ‘left’ than most admit; I seem ‘right’ to people on here. But if you zoom out, I’m a progressive. To sum up my feelings in more detail; ‘The left’ is full of people that care so deeply about others that they are easily led. They don’t consider that every “human right” is someone else’s responsibility. There is always a bill to be paid. ‘The right’ is mostly made up of people that are comfortable in their current circumstances, therefore resistant to change. They often forget how difficult it is to make it in the world; and how much luck pays a part in success. As I have said on here before, the biggest problem in the world is central bank money printing. Most of the problems discussed on here are a direct result of poor fiscal and monetary policy.
Thing is, people think in their own surroundings, their own circumstances. I grew up with a father who was a Headmaster, and saw it from his perspective. And he was treated appallingly by the education department many years ago for something I wont go into publicly here. I guess I dont understand enough about why there are issues you talk about, in so much as I so rarely get a rise at work, but that is less of an issue, i knew the salary path of what I went into and it paid off, I dont get overtime etc, and work stupid hours at times. I have a very simplistic view, and not saying it as trying to anger you or someone else, but when people go into a profession, say teaching in this example, they too have the career path, likely earnings mapped out. The bit I dont get is why this comes as such a shock - is it simply that rises need to move with inflation or is it beyond this? I genuinely dont know. I guess you dont go into a teaching role being told you get £60k pa and when they first pay you it becomes clear they are only paying £30k or whatever it is. So is it that the roles are generally really under paid, which leads to piss poor morale etc, or are people accepting of that but inflation makes it impossible to carry on in the profession? I imagine it is a bit of a lot of things that go on, and I also dont understand how this will be different under a labour or whoever Government, I mean hasn’t there always been issues with teachers pay? Im off to sleep soon, so will see if you had any ideas in the morning…
Her halo has slipped? . What has she been found guilty of ? So there is some question over how a £600k sum was actually spent, and whether it went directly on campaigning for a second referendum. We have a police operation costing who knows what - who I wonder is behind this operation? Given the billions (yours and mine) that have been pissed up the wall by Theresa, Boris, Truss et al, I wonder whether the same level of scrutiny shall be applied ?
But it was SNP politicians giving Nicola the kick-in on Wednesday night's "PM." The implication was that about 50% of the members are not happy with the way she has run the party , especially with regard to retaining discipline. I think that the missing £600k will turn out to be the tip of the iceberg and will be surprised if there is not more this than meets the eye. As tou allude, I am not sure that spending £600k on other issues as opposed to campaigning for a referendum is actually criminal and we do not know just how ring-fenced this money was. The whole investigation makes excellent reading for Sturgeon's enemies because of the way she has usually conducted herself in an exemplary fashion. Unfortunately , it now looks like this might have been a facade and the various factions within the SNP at loggerheads with regards to the direction the party should be going in. I totally agree that Boris and his ilk should be subject to greater scrutiny and should have more to fear. You can appreciate the media frenzy due both to the fact that any wrongdoing is alleged to have involved her husband and the fact that she had hitherto set herself extremely high standards. It will be disappointing if the latter transpires to have been an illusion .
Does anyone go into a job thinking their salary will decline year in year out for a decade? Teachers salaries rose at between zero and one percent for ten years. Real terms earnings plummeted. Nobody decent wants to teach anymore. You can’t keep the ones that do choose to do it. Sometjjng like 4/5 teachers leave in the first 5 years. And then when we are offered a pay rise the schools have to pay it. Shock horror, teachers care about kids, so what does it do to morale when we are only given the money we need to live at the expense of the kids we want to support? Mate, if you have had your wages artificially suppressed in a career that needs a postgraduate qualification, can I suggest you do what I and so many teachers have done? Get the hell out. I mean if the country doesn’t care about education then why should teachers?
Recruitment and retention, words that are used across the public sector besides pay and conditions and rightly so. How will the needed staff be found and those leaving be persuaded to stay? Where are the funds to maintain exiting infrastructure and build the new sufficient to meet the increasing needs?
Gary Lineker won his case with HMRC over his 4.9m tax bill. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...neker-wins-battle-with-hmrc-over-49m-tax-bill..
You default to posting an article about child abuse in the USA, because the USA, and mainly Twitter is where you get your news from, which is pretty weird coming from someone who says they live in Canada and is on a UK based forum. There have been countless cases of child abuse involving the church over here and you only have to look at the scandals involving the Catholic church in Ireland to see there are plenty of comparisons that don't have to be from the USA. Look back at your posts at the number of times you have posted about some random non-entity of an American story and you might realise that a large amount of the stuff you post has little relevance to the UK. Yes we all know the tired old saying that if it happens in America then it affects us. That doesn't pan out as much as people are led to believe because as far as I'm aware we don't have much of a problem with our children being gunned down at school, and abortions are legal. The biggest problem is you just keep feeding the Osvaldorama troll. He is unhinged and posts Twitter garbage telling us we are all doomed, there's no more money left, the system is rigged against us (it always has been) .... and you can't resist feeding his nutty posts by replying with even more crap from the USA to counter his stupidity. We now have a Politics Thread completely ruined because of him, and your obsession in replying to him. Have you ever considered just ignoring him? I don't have a problem with you Schad and I agree with many of the things you post which don't involve a USA based sparring bout between you and Osvaldo, but this whole obsession of constantly referencing things back to America has got out of hand. Sorry, but that's how I see it.
So i recall part of my understanding was seeing my step dad, who is one of the most intelligent people i know, earn pittance in reality and I couldnt really understand why we were pretty poor as i was growing up. It was this that made me realise that i wanted to more commoditise my intelligence etc to earn more money. Now there are some on here that seem to frown on people doing well, but ive realised that drive came from seeing him suffer from salary, then by being totally let down but the education department. I mean, when I haven’t been happy with my salary, i usually left the company, so makes sense in your case too.
I think the problem here is that if you're unhappy with the salary in most jobs you can move on to a different company. A teacher in the state system can't just find a better paying teaching job so they have to leave the profession or remain and take the hit. Vin
There have been plenty of such cases the world over. That's why I said there were plenty of such cases. I posted that specific one because it made the news yesterday, which is to say that it was timely. And it was particularly large, with hundreds of confirmed and thousands of assumed instances of abuse in a single diocese. You're doing this weird SoMeOnE wHo sAyS tHeY lIvE iN cAnAdA thing, as if I'm lying for no reason I can begin to fathom. Several people here know where in Canada I live. I haven't actually been particularly circumspect about it. If it'll make you feel better, I'll PM you with where I live, and then take a picture to confirm it. Anything to allow you to sleep better at night. Some of the issues won't make their way to the UK. Many of them will. Many of them already have. If you think that the UK is a political entity all to itself, I'm afraid that I'm not the one misunderstanding the lay of the land here. You can see it however you please. If you think that politics don't extend beyond the borders of the UK, well, you're in for a real surprise when the Conservative Party loses the next election and comes back a much different entity, focused on cultural (and increasingly racial) issues. It has happened in virtually every European and North American nation-state, and you aren't special.
