It is, although it's mixed up with a rag-bag of attitudes in BRICS to put it mildly. More significant economically, India is also in APEC with 20 other countries. Those include Australia & New Zealand and Singapore, S Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam among others. Oddly, those others include Canada, USA. I suppose they do have Pacifics coast but it's not really Pacific Rim as it's usually defined. Also Russia and China. I wouldn't call them Free Trade advocates.
No I agree. Aid should be aid, not an attempt to buy trade. There are too many staving around the world to give aid to countries that can afford moon shots and nuclear weapons.
A reduced energy price cap has just been announced. Energy usage costs have been reduced but daily fixed charges have gone up. I have a shameful admission to make. I fixed my energy prices in the Autumn of 2021 and my energy supplier didn’t go bust so I won’t suffer the impact of the crisis until September. Having just signed up to a new deal, I’ve had to compare what I was paying in 2021 with what I will be paying in 2023/24. What jumps out is the huge increase in standing charges. When I say huge I mean HUGE. Standing charges are a small part of the total bill it’s true but where is that money going? The regulator was interviewed about the price cap and was asked why standing charges had gone up. He didn’t answer that question but instead explained what they are. Answering a different question is always a sign there’s something to hide.
Huge profits I expect for someone......which you need to pay these failing overlords ....their obscene bonuses and pay-offs when they resign.
On electricity, I was paying 25.66p per day. The cap prior to today's change was then 56.64p per day, a 120% increase. On gas, I was paying 26.59p per day and the cap then was 27.47p per day, an increase of just 3%. The standing charges do cover some staff costs but the biggest part would be infrastructure costs: pipes, cables, pylons.... Green Electricity anyone?
All this cap stuff is just smoke and mirrors. If you have a customer that is frugal and only uses the least amount possible with say an annual bill of £1200 (plucked from nowhere but as an example), the person will still pay £1200 whatever the cap says. There is no reduction whatsoever. If somebody uses twice as much then they will still pay twice as much so no savings whatsoever as far as I can see. The standing charge having minimum doubled is just a con. All the utilities charge one and you would have to ask in all circumstances why they do. It's a licence to print money profit again as far as I can see. The Admin stuff has not doubled in cost. My fixed rate came to an end about 12 months ago so my costs went up. However, I was offered another fixed rate just recently and I agonised over doing it or not. I chose the option for the only reason that I will know exactly what my costs will be even if they go down in the meantime and I lose out slightly.
Our office costs and we only have electric as gas is lpg .. so its trebled in price since last december ,, total rip off. opus energy cant shift it either until december.. so thats why we have to pass the cost on to customers and our fuel bills are huge as well .. Im with you sensible my fixed has ended im not fixing as it may be a bit cheaper later on for now i pay the standard tarriff with shell for domestic, i dont do a direct debit just pay once they send bill to app i could save a bit by paying monthly but they want the earth for a monthly cost .. they then keep that money ... they wont reduce your bills .. its all a big rip off and they moan about tradesman prices ..
It's not smoke and miracles. It's always made clear it's a charge per unit of energy, of if the benchmark is £1,200 but you have a very small or efficient house, you pay less. For dummies, tte cap
I'm not sure if the "for dummies" is an insult in this case or not but still. The theory used though is if you use less then you pay less because of the usage not the cap. Whatever you use you still pay so where does the cap help anyone. Hence smoke and mirrors. If you use £3000 worth of electricity then as far as I am aware you pay £3000 not £2025 or whatever the cap is set at. The only use for the cap is to allow the Suppliers to supply at a higher or lower rate per unit. In the case of the last couple of years it's been higher. I have gained nothing at all. I have a smart meter. A while back I got an estimated bill from EDF which tried to tell me I owed them mega bucks for that half year. It was nowhere near my normal usage so the estimate was in essence plucked from nowhere and based on nothing more than fantasy. It took me a whole lot of emails and complaint to get them to finally admit they had made it up and cocked up royally. Not only did they way over estimate the bill but they insisted my DD be increased 3 fold. I eventually got them to reduce the demand by about £80 per month and I am happy to pay a bit in advance and the tariff was going up every other week at the time. However, they have just billed me for the last 6 months and refunded me £901. They have now also decreased the DD by £50 per month. Had I paid what they asked without question they would have had to refund me around £1500 and decrease the DD by about £100 per month. I don't trust anything EDF come up with and do my own calculations. If they don't agree then I keep the argument going until they give in.
EDF is state owned....BUT the state in this case is...... FRANCE. When has it ever been possible to trust the French to ever be fair with the UK.....in or out of the EU the French will always try to cheat the UK. How the hell have we managed to allow them to own our electricity supply....AND empty our dustbins.
In fact what do we own anymore....huge areas of property in London are owned by either the Arabs or Chinese. We might marvel at the Shard and enjoy the magnificent view from the top....but we don't own it. Also some of the real estate in central London has never been lived in...it is just built or bought by foreign investors . And how many of our Premier Football clubs are actually UK owned. We just need a Government that looks after the UK and to make sure that we own all the important infrastructure etc of this country....so that foreign ownership is stepped . So that rules out the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems....etc...etc. The third biggest party at Westminster is not a UK party but a home rule for Scotland group.
No, the dummies remark was something I copied from an newspaper article but then abandoned - and failed. The reason they asked you to increase your DD was because they were looking forward and seeing forecasts for higher energy bills. I had the same thing but Octopus kindly provide a graph thing in which you can put alter the DD level and see where they think your balance will go over the next 12 months based on their estimate of future prices. The simple way to avoid issues is to take charge. Read your meter(s) once a month on the day the DD gets taken from your account, go onto the supplier's website and input them. There's no argument then and your balance on your monthly statement is correct. Don't get sucked into this "all capitalists are bastards" nonsense. For a start, suppliers like mine don't make big money. The companies that do benefit from high prices are the ones that get the oil and gas out of the ground. The likes of Octopus don't do that: they are just traders buying gas and electricity and selling it on to you. Because they are hedging and re-hedging all the time, they've got a very good idea what energy prices are likely to do over the next couple of years. I don't know how much energy your business uses Joe but if it's a lot, and it would have to be a lot, you can get specialists to hedge for you. You agree a strategy which suits your business situation. They monitor the markets and hedge within that strategy. Once a month, or every 3 months or whatever they'll update you on your position and advise you what to do next. They take a cut obviously (they all drive very nice cars I've noticed) and it's a form of gambling: you can lose as well as win but you manage the risk. In the long term, you can't beat the market and you'll end up paying what the market demands but at least you reduce the risk of price spikes over the medium term.
I should have added that I at no time had my DD increased by the amount they originally said it should be. I know pretty much what I use and could work out next years bill to within £100 right now unless the Winter is Arctic and months long. My biggest cojplaint was that they didn't estimate the bill originally from any of my previous usage they simply made it up from nowhere. Also that I have a smart meter and therefore there should never be an estimated bill. They tried all ways to fob me off with answers several times but I was not having it and they eventually said sorry and admitted their error. I should have gone to the Ombudsman and have told them that if ever they try to fob me off again I will start there with all the evidence from that time added to whatever they do next time. I have always kept an eye on bills and when working my wife was just as adept. She can't see writing now so I have to do it all but we still do. I did increase my DD because the fixed tariff had ended and the rates were increasing almost every other week. I made sure I was going to be well covered in any event and as said I don't mind being in credit as I know they automatically refund which they have this time. I chose the rate of my DD not them in the end and surprise surprise I got no argument.
well Not distant, i have spoken to OPus energy the business energy provider who we have had for years now. they have got the best deal but its hurrendous. so im now looking at popping solar on for the electric as we hardly use gas altho its in place by Bottles and most have electric. yep the panels will cost us but it may work out well long term.. the sons will have the benefit of that once i retire .. that wont be long hopefully..
ULEZ expansion zone starts today. Vehicles that do not pass the guidelines will have to pay a fee of £12.50 a day to enter or drive in Greater London......(within M25 ?) If the charge isn't paid within 28 days it increase by 50%. If not paid at all a fine of £180 will be imposed....if you pay the fine within 14 days it will be reduced to £90. If you use your non-compliance vehicle five days a week as a small business... that would cost you £62.50 every week per vehicle....unpaid fines of course would put your business into the red very quickly. Thousands of small businesses with old reliable vans that do not comply to ULEZ will be struggling to survive.....not all of them can afford to replace their vehicles and the compensation doesn't cover the value of their present vehicle. Many say the science being used isn't correct on the benefits claimed by ULEZ supporters. Sadiq Khan has been a disaster as Mayor of London.....even Keir Starmer has found that supporting Khan is a big vote loser.
I’ve just had an interesting conversation with the South West Water phone system. I was expecting a water bill but they do move about: sometimes 2 and a bit months since the last one, sometimes nearly 4. I was though surprised to get an overdue bill reminder: obviously the bill itself has got lost in some post depot. I paid the amount due by online banking and was therefore even more surprised to get a final reminder. As the payment had left me and not come back I thought I’d better chase them up. Their phone software says “We are experiencing a very high number of calls at the moment because “THIS IS OUR BUSIEST TIME OF YEAR”. What? I beg your pardon? In what way way is the supply of water and sewage services seasonal? What sort of excuse is that?
The statistics behind the ULEZ got a battering in the Sunday paper. Firstly, the claimed reduction in pollution is dubious. It’s only older more polluting vehicles that attract the charge and over time, those gradually drop off the register and are scrapped. I think a 40% reduction is claimed but independent analysis says 37% of that is natural and only 3% to ULEZ. Secondly, there’s a discrepancy in the percentage of vehicles liable to the charge. The mayor is quoting a low percentage “seen driving” in the zone. That of course includes people driving into the city on business or commuting to highly paid jobs. Those people tend to be above average earners with newer cars. The proportion of older vehicles registered in London is much higher. Whilst there are areas of great wealth in London, there also much larger communities of ordinary people resident in the city and once they’ve covered the costs of a home in London, many of those are likely to have older cars. It’s all smoke & mirrors and of course, the mayor’s research was commissioned and paid for by the council has never been peer reviewed as proper academic research would be. Lastly, the mayor quotes 4.000 deaths a year due to poor air quality. In fact, that number is cases where air quality is mentioned as one of several underlying health problems. That’s not the same as 4,000 deaths being caused by pollution. If you have lung cancer, it’s going to kill you, ULEZ or not.
