turn up the gas

 

What a surprise to find that Gas and Electricity prices will have to rise, because of falling profit margins.

 

Badgered, by the likes of Chris Huhne,  to  cut our energy usage and preyed upon by the privatised utilities, we are in a no-win situation.

 

The message is clear. Eat drink and be merry, because we’re going to get clobbered whether, or not, we turn our lights off.

 

We may as well avoid the stress and stop worrying about saving Gas, Electricity and Water.  

 

Use your utilities .

 

Relax in a nice hot bath, put the TV on full blast, turn the thermostat up and re-install the old, safer, filament bulbs and read your books without eye-strain.

 

You can’t save the planet, it’s Company profit margins that truly govern our lives, not Eurocrats.

 

In the final analysis, you may still be heading for the poor house but at least you’ll travel in comfort.

Hospitals sell-off in final stages

The old matron-led hospital system may not have been perfect but we definitely didn’t see such mismanagement that a doctor felt forced to prescribe water for his patients, because they had been allowed to become dehydrated.
The present pre-privatisation Trust Hospitals have proven to be a failed system, incapable of dealing considerately with patients.
Nevertheless, I predict that Government will tell us that hospitals can only be improved by pressing ahead with plans to sell them off to the same type of profit-motivated companies that are doing such a terrible job of managing our water, our railway’s, our gas and our electricity.

privatisation vampires

We know life’s not fair but the Equitable life scandal is another example of why the State can not expect us to rely on the private sector. 

One million people have lost most, or all, of their life-savings.  For the most part their crime has been to do, as we are constantly exhorted to do; they have worked hard, saved and tried to invest their money to protect themselves in old-age.

The private Sector has stolen that money and many of these people will now have to rely on The State for a pension.

Every day, we read of gross incompetence in the private sector that is making life harder for ordinary people.

In addition to the incredible damage done through totally reckless gambling by  the banking sector and, not so many years ago, the insurance sector, we have the misery created by the failures of the privatised Gas, Electric, Water, Rail and Buses services  to improve our infrastructure, as was promised. This is despite  the benefit of subsidies,  generous tax allowances and virtually carte blanche price-raising.  All they seem to have managed is the creation of large profit streams from a Government granted stranglehold on some of our basic necessities.

Politicians of the major parties need to stem this drive to privatise everything in sight not just for the sake of the people that they allegedly represent but in order that we will have a few pennies left in our pockets for the taxman.

privatised utilities

At present the energy companies are exhorting us to save energy, even handing out energy usage monitors.

 The water companies are exhorting us to save water and even threatening a hose-pipe ban.

Puzzle: Won’t this reduce their profits?

Answer: yes it will unless they increase unit prices.

Remember these are privatised companies, responsible only to their shareholders (in France and Germany). The Board members would be sacked if share dividends were cut.

There is a green solution but it involves re-nationalising these companies.

bank shares

Response to Stephen pollard’s article in Daily Express. Not published.

As co-author of “Towards a more Co-operative Society”, your Political Commentator, Stephen Pollard, obviously has some personal investment in the scheme announced by David Cameron.

On the face of it, it seems to have merit but just because it looks like a way forward, that does not mean that we should plunge in and abandon caution.

Stephen Pollard holds up Privatisation  of Gas, Electricity and Water , along with the sale of Council houses, as being equally innovative, whilst proclaiming these to have been successes.

For many of us, these examples act as more of  a warning.

Stephen Pollard claims that the utilities are directly answerable to all of us, as owners. He might do well to check just what fraction of the shares are still held by ordinary members of the public.  He might do well to check some of the articles by fellow columnists, such as Ann Widdicombe, on their dealings with these allegedly responsive companies.

As far as being treated in a rude manner, by the state owned monopolies, how rude is the ubiquitous use of 0870 numbers and electronic queuing. Just how much of an improvement is the false bonhomie of the Utility employees and the bombardment of leaflets proclaiming that prices are increasing for our own benefit.

The sale of  Council housing has been a mixed blessing for those at that end of the Social Ladder.  My general impression, when canvassing, is that adjacent Council Houses may not be as lovingly adorned but the owners haven’t had to worry about the burden of maintaining the fabric of the buildings in good order.

Essentially I’m saying that I would like to see this scheme trialled and I don’t mean the way Schemes are usually trialled to ensure success. E.g. in Education, pilot schemes are usually trialled with a teacher,  two or more experts, a comfortable budget  and a class of ten hand-picked pupils, before being rolled out into ordinary schools, with limited budgets and a very mixed class of 30  not so amenable pupils.

Test it, examine its flaws, as well as its hoped for benefits and don’t roll it out as a panacea, hoping that by the next election , everyone will have forgotten how wonderful it was supposed to have been.