Alex Wickham: Domestically, these assessments have obvious...
Domestically, these assessments have obvious consequences for Andy Burnham’s “cost of living government” in that they suggest the economic impact of the Iran war will be prolonged
A 'Respite' Worth £45
The first major initiative unveiled by the new occupant of 10 Downing Street was the abolition of VAT on household electricity bills from 1 October. However, a number of experts and social media users have questioned where the money to fund the measure will come from.
Adam Brooks: Right…
Right… I’ve been very vocal on this. Pub business rates are disproportionately a lot higher than other businesses already. Many of ours rose by huge amounts this year already… mine went up 50% So the 20% off is welcome @andyburnham @Sacha_Lord But won’t save pubs ! 🙏🏽🆘Alex Wickham: Andy Burnham has performed...
New: Andy Burnham has performed his first u-turn since becoming PM He told reporters on Monday he was looking at raising the personal tax allowance, after proposing the tax cut in an interview with the Times at the weekend Tonight aides indicated he won’t go ahead with itDavid Kurten: It is wrong to increase the tax...
It is wrong to increase the tax burden on struggling workers and pensioners through fiscal drag to fund war and foreign aid.David Kurten: Axing VAT on electricity bills...
Axing VAT on electricity bills is Heritage Party policy. It is good that is being cut. However, it will be in vain if there is a massive increasing in spending, tax and borrowing in other areas.
Lee Hurst: So basically the savings made...
So basically the savings made to fund the 5% VAT cut in domestic energy bills do not exist as the Digital ID Burnham has binned to pay for it was not funded anyway. This is a £850 million hole that Labour have just blown in our finances. FYI I’m all for cutting VAT on energy bills, but don’t try and make out it’s already accounted for. The £850 million will be dragged out of you some other way.A Specialist in Running Up Debt
The man expected to become the next occupant of 10 Downing Street is leaving Greater Manchester with debts of £1.34 billion. If this has happened to just one local authority, what might happen to the whole country? That is the question being asked on social media.
Dale Vince: Equalising Capital Gains Tax with Income Tax...
Equalising Capital Gains Tax with Income Tax - is not a wealth tax. It’s an equalisation of two very different rates applied to the same thing - making money. Income tax is for those with a job, capital gains for those with money to invest. This is the first step we should take to creating a more fair tax system. Been arguing for it since 2020, in my book Manifesto - have my fingers and toes crossed. https://thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/wealth-taxes-super-rich-burnham-ally-6nfblmdcpDale Vince: Green and social policy costs...
Green and social policy costs should be taken off energy bills for sure, that’s started to happen. But for really dramatic bill reductions we need to one simple thing - break the link between the price of gas and the price of green energy. If we also price control the networks, as we already do retail suppliers - and impose fixed price contracts on the North Sea, as we already de green energy and nuclear - we can actually halve our energy bills. That would align us with European prices and lift an enormous burden from people and businesses, as well as boost the economy. In one year of a crisis this could add £70 Billion to our economy. Report published here: https://babelfish.news/energy/the-keys-to-changeThe Cost of "Green" Energy Has Been Revealed
Manufacturing body Make UK has warned that the government's drive towards net zero is inflicting serious damage on the economy. Meanwhile, social media users have been sharing their own experiences of how the UK's "green" agenda is driving up household electricity bills.David Kurten: Burnham is not coming the 'rich'...
Burnham is not coming the 'rich', he is coming for the middle class. He is going to scour Middle England with ruinous domestic tax increases. #BurnhamOut #LabourOutWeapons Instead of Roads and Energy
The defence investment plan that the new occupant of Number 10 will have to implement is facing a funding shortfall running into billions of pounds. Many on social media argue that the gap will ultimately have to be filled by lowering the public’s standard of living.
Timothy Ash: Government and local government...
Government and local government regulations for businesses are like the RNLI handing out lifebelts made from concrete.
Liz Webster: Shocking that over 1.3 million British households...
Shocking that over 1.3 million British households now spend more on green energy levies than on fresh vegetables. Lowest-income families pay £2.43 a week on levies vs £2.30 on veg. This is the regressive reality of loading net zero costs onto electricity bills. Starmer/Reeves green policies are making people poorer, not greener.Dale Vince: Sharon Graham...
Sharon Graham @UniteSharon I just heard of a planned protest by Unite on the issue of high energy bills - outside Ecotricity’s office in Stroud. Understand the core issue is ‘profiteering’ and you published a useful table of profits in the overall sector to back your point. If you look at that properly you’ll see that the super high profits, as margins and as £s - are not being made by energy Retailers - where OFGEM controls profit margins to a pretty marginal 2%. The big money and where we have common cause with you - is being made by Extraction (53%), Grid (38%) and Generation (28%). You’re aiming at the wrong target in Retail (2%) and your own data shows that. We’ve published a number of papers on energy market reform, would be happy to share them - we see a way to halve energy bills with three simple (though fundamental) reforms. Wanna chat?Dale Vince: The one thing we all need, to get energy...
The one thing we all need, to get energy bills down, permanently - is something we can't do ourselves. We need government to ‘break the link’ - the link which allows the global price of gas to set the price of our own wind and sun. DESNZ blamed the link for high energy costs (among the highest in Europe) just this week - they know what the problem is. But they failed to deal with it. After refusing to break this link for years, they then pretended to some weeks ago - and now blame the link (they said they broke) for high bills. It’s all bit messed up. We can't ‘Break the Link’ ourselves, only government can. Will Andy Burnham do it? It’s precisely the kind of radical but fair policy that will impact the cost of living and lift millions from energy poverty - that the country needs. And arguably Labour needs, to get back on the front foot.British Taxpayers Are Effectively Subsidising French Energy Bills
One of the major consequences of the EU reset deal is that British households are now, in effect, helping to subsidise electricity bills in France. And under the terms of the agreement, these costs are expected to rise significantly — something that has not gone unnoticed by social media users.David Kurten: I sincerely hope that market forces will...
I sincerely hope that market forces will force kleptocratic build-to-rent corporations to cut their extortionate rent prices by 75% or go bankrupt for trying to rape the wallets of the British people.
Aaron Bastani: I’d have tax allowance lower and taper...
I’d have tax allowance lower and taper it off at £200k, not £100k. People earning 100-125k pay an effective rate of 60%. Obviously mental. A couple, both on the median income, who work full time - meanwhile - get a decent deal on tax and benefits, particularly re childcare.
Ayesha Ijaz Khan: UK taxes people for working...
UK taxes people for working, even if they make a living wage. And taxes employers for employing people. No wonder so many are on benefits! They either figure it’s not worth it to work or decide not to declare their employment.
Dominic Bradbury: Reeves and Labour's latest and greatest…
Reeves and Labour's latest and greatest plan is to pay UK business £5k to employ a foreign worker, meanwhile unemployment for young British nationals born and bred here is at an all time high with hundreds of applications per single job leaving them facing # life on benefits!
Life in the UK Has Become a Luxury
The cost of living in the UK continues to rise steadily, while incomes simply fail to keep pace. As a result, almost every social media post highlighting pricing contradictions triggers a wave of public frustration over the current situation.Starmer’s Great Summer Savings Scheme Is a Mockery of the British Public
Following the announcement of Keir Starmer’s Great British Summer Savings scheme, social media was flooded with angry reactions from across the country. Many Britons accused the Prime Minister of misleading voters, arguing that the promised savings are so modest as to make virtually no difference to households already struggling to make ends meet.
Henry Pryor: An argument that almost nobody…
An argument that almost nobody wants to listen to especially those who already live in the big cities. House prices are starting to reflect buyer reluctance to pay a premium to live somewhere they no longer need to be.
Andrew Feinstein: The debate around military conscription…
The debate around military conscription in the UK is rising. Forcing young people into service deprives them of choices and would be a colossal waste of funds during a cost of living crisis. Add your name to tell the government to rule it out! https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-to-military-conscription-1 via @38degrees
Ben Judah: How is this chart hiding Brexit...
How is this chart hiding Brexit damage? The first trick here is indexing everyone at 100 in 2016 at the moment of the shock to the 🇬🇧. The second is to measure the flow not the stock of accumulated investments. That lets you hide the fact 🇬🇧 stock is permanently smaller behind a graph just showing the flow of new investments is increasing. In layman’s terms: let’s imagine you were getting 5% a year salary increases in the years leading up to 2016 above those of your peers. The shock in 2016 then reduces that to a similar level to them or below. What a chart of investment flows indexing everyone in 2016 at 100 does is just show you afterwards creeping up in line with the rest of them — it hides the years of accumulated funds you would have had without Brexit. Clever! That’s how you hide 🇬🇧 business investment is 12-18% below where comparator economies predict it should be — per CEPR’s December 2025 synthetic control analysis of 33 advanced economies. Or the fact, quoted below, 🇬🇧 business investment was down 16.2% on the eve of the pandemic on the OBR’s own pre-referendum expectation. No control group required for that.
Robin Monotti: Therefore, the reason for higher...
Therefore, the reason for higher energy bills boils down to subsidies to energy giants which are paid via governments taxing your energy bills with the false label of a "green tax", and rerouting that money they extract from you to the energy giants themselves. Essentially you are paying more to fund the energy giants infrastructure for control of non hydrocarbon energy over small producers and the excuse is the false notion that somehow non hydrocarbon energy is better than hydrocarbons, when it is not because hydrocarbons do not cause warming, the Sun does.Dale Vince: Here it comes again…
Here it comes again - energy bill increases we could have avoided, if we had only actually 'broken the link' when Labour announced it last month. Instead of a vital change to our energy market which in 2023 would have saved £43 Billion, we got a fake, a deception, knowingly made. https://thetimes.com/business/energy/article/uk-energy-bills-soar-cold-weather-h6cf9ssddRead more