The news thread

[TDYER63]

7 minutes ago, aaid said:

Daily Record must still be on strike judging by the tone of that piece. 

😂 I was thinking of that myself. Scarily positive about NS .

Elsewhere its all ‘ unions successfully dragging money out of the Scottish  government’.
Though to be fair that is normally the rhetoric after a successful negotiation, governments never tend to get credit. 
 

[Malcolm]

3 hours ago, Ally Bongo said:

That's a bit like hoping Benny from Crossroads can give you dating tips

It can't be emphasised enough how much of a fucking idiot Liz Truss is - she will instigate civil unrest

hmmn yeah, I kind of agree.  I’m not sure she is the brightest and will potentially be easily manipulated.  
 

Rory Stewart would be my choice.

[Malcolm]

What a surprise!  These bloody Ruskies have switched off the gas indefinitely!

[phart]

2 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

What a surprise!  These bloody Ruskies have switched off the gas indefinitely!

Not a huge surprise it was in the opening of have i got news for you ever since 2014

[Malcolm]

19 minutes ago, phart said:

Not a huge surprise it was in the opening of have i got news for you ever since 2014

Nuke ‘em!

[ThistleWhistle]

9 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Nuke ‘em!

I'm not a huge fan of Paul Merton or Ian Hislop either but would suggest that's a tad excessive!

[Ally Bongo]

What's the odds on Comic relief releasing a version of a Pat Benatar classic ?

[Malcolm]

Us stocks which had been climbing today, just dropped like a stone

[Kirk]

10 hours ago, Malcolm said:

Well it’s starting to happen.  Seeing anecdotal evidence of small businesses starting to fold after being presented with energy bill rises of ten fold.  Folk just handing back the keys. Staff out of a job, suppliers one less customer to supply.  Cafes, music venues, chip shops, etc.

I was called alarmist when I suggested we are looking at Dickensian Britain, but that’s where we are heading.  There will be £6m unemployed next year coinciding with entirely unaffordable domestic bills.

I hope Liz has something miraculous to reveal next week.

Being a wholesale food supplier (self employed) I am seriously worried about a few of my customers closing, although at present nobody seems worried.

I also have a walk in fridge and freezer running 24/7 for stock so my bills are going to rocket. Winter can come soon enough so I can at least turn them off for a bit each day.

[Malcolm]

4 hours ago, Kirk said:

Being a wholesale food supplier (self employed) I am seriously worried about a few of my customers closing, although at present nobody seems worried.

I also have a walk in fridge and freezer running 24/7 for stock so my bills are going to rocket. Winter can come soon enough so I can at least turn them off for a bit each day.

I really feel for anyone running a small business trying to navigate this just now.  It’s anecdotal stuff like, someone running a small music venue, was paying 10k, new bill 114k so handing back the keys.

next week will be critical in terms of shaping how we might get through this.

[hampden_loon2878]

8 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

I really feel for anyone running a small business trying to navigate this just now.  It’s anecdotal stuff like, someone running a small music venue, was paying 10k, new bill 114k so handing back the keys.

next week will be critical in terms of shaping how we might get through this.

The uk is totally fucked and i dont think folk realise how bad this will become,, 

[Malcolm]

41 minutes ago, hampden_loon2878 said:

The uk is totally fucked and i dont think folk realise how bad this will become,, 

been saying this for months that we are heading for a thirties style depression with stagflation.  People here laughed and accused me of over reacting and being alarmist. This should be top of every news item every day.

the best we can hope for is significant government support, which will devalue our currency in the world but maybe stave off the worst of it.  The alternative will be people eating out of bins and desperate poverty that is unimaginable here. 

it’s not about heating homes, it’s about a collapse in the economy. There is no danger I would want to be taking the PM job on right now.

 

[Kirk]

1 hour ago, Malcolm said:

I really feel for anyone running a small business trying to navigate this just now.  It’s anecdotal stuff like, someone running a small music venue, was paying 10k, new bill 114k so handing back the keys.

next week will be critical in terms of shaping how we might get through this.

Yeah we have had to change suppliers to try and keep cost down, will be interesting to see what the bill is for this month as it's start of new contract. Hopefully we can battle through and our customers are the same. Tough times ahead

[hampden_loon2878]

54 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

been saying this for months that we are heading for a thirties style depression with stagflation.  People here laughed and accused me of over reacting and being alarmist. This should be top of every news item every day.

the best we can hope for is significant government support, which will devalue our currency in the world but maybe stave off the worst of it.  The alternative will be people eating out of bins and desperate poverty that is unimaginable here. 

it’s not about heating homes, it’s about a collapse in the economy. There is no danger I would want to be taking the PM job on right now.

 

i would go for significant government intervention rather than support, part of the problem was the support during covid has now sent inflation through the roof, that option may end up doing more harm than good. the energy prices need sorted out that is the main one,,, this mess is a direct result in un regulated capitalism which is every bit as dangerous as communism 

[phart]

40 minutes ago, hampden_loon2878 said:

i would go for significant government intervention rather than support, part of the problem was the support during covid has now sent inflation through the roof, that option may end up doing more harm than good. the energy prices need sorted out that is the main one,,, this mess is a direct result in un regulated capitalism which is every bit as dangerous as communism 

That's not written in stone in fact it's one of a few factors which economists are arguing is the main cause. They haven't reached a consensus on it. As always it's more likely to be a factor of many things.

 

 

 

[Malcolm]

45 minutes ago, hampden_loon2878 said:

i would go for significant government intervention rather than support, part of the problem was the support during covid has now sent inflation through the roof, that option may end up doing more harm than good. the energy prices need sorted out that is the main one,,, this mess is a direct result in un regulated capitalism which is every bit as dangerous as communism 

yeah, i think some kind of freeze to smooth it out over a decade.  Just saddling ourselves with debt, but see no other option 

[Och Aye]

56 minutes ago, Kirk said:

Yeah we have had to change suppliers to try and keep cost down, will be interesting to see what the bill is for this month as it's start of new contract. Hopefully we can battle through and our customers are the same. Tough times ahead

Hospitality will be done come Easter. Food prices are so  ridiculously high profit margins are being squeezed to break even levels. This will be the final nail. Know 4 business doing the sensible thing and shutting down now, many will try and keep going and end up in serious debt. We'll end up with Wetherspoons and not much else.

[Ally Bongo]

46 minutes ago, phart said:

That's not written in stone in fact it's one of a few factors which economists are arguing is the main cause. They haven't reached a consensus on it. As always it's more likely to be a factor of many things.

 

 

 

Indeed

Imported inflation due to the drop in Sterling is a bigger factor than covid grants

[hampden_loon2878]

1 hour ago, phart said:

That's not written in stone in fact it's one of a few factors which economists are arguing is the main cause. They haven't reached a consensus on it. As always it's more likely to be a factor of many things.

 

 

 

aye yer right, there are many contributing factors, the perfect storm by the look of it

[Kirk]

1 hour ago, Och Aye said:

Hospitality will be done come Easter. Food prices are so  ridiculously high profit margins are being squeezed to break even levels. This will be the final nail. Know 4 business doing the sensible thing and shutting down now, many will try and keep going and end up in serious debt. We'll end up with Wetherspoons and not much else.

It's more roll shops and cafes rather than bigger establishments I desk with so hopefully they will soldier on. If not then I'm out of business and owe a whole lot of money to the bank

[thplinth]

3 hours ago, Malcolm said:

been saying this for months that we are heading for a thirties style depression with stagflation.  People here laughed and accused me of over reacting and being alarmist. This should be top of every news item every day.

Excuse me but it was me who first mentioned stagflation, you just copied me. 🙂

https://www.tamb.net/forum/index.php?/search/&q=stagflation&quick=1&type=forums_topic&item=16256

To be fair it was not much of a prediction when it was already happening.

The term is a blend of stagnation and inflation meaning low or no economic growth and high inflation. 

However what we are currently in is much more extreme, really high inflation (it really is astonishingly high) combined with severe economic shrinkage or 'negative growth'.

We have severe Shrinkflation. Stagflation would be an improvement from where we are.

I never thought I'd see economic conditions like we are seeing in Europe right now. I thought they were a thing of the past. All of it totally self inflicted.

So do we slow down, stop and reverse as the cliff edge of winter approaches? No we put the foot down even more...

I'd say every sitting Government in Europe will fall if this shitshow is allowed to unfold. Massive damage to the EU and NATO as well. The economic damage being done already is immense but there is still time to back it down. They won't of course. 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by thplinth

[Och Aye]

1 hour ago, Kirk said:

It's more roll shops and cafes rather than bigger establishments I desk with so hopefully they will soldier on. If not then I'm out of business and owe a whole lot of money to the bank

I wish you the best of luck. Sincerely hope I'm wrong but can't see cafes surviving the energy hike on top of the food increase. Foodstuff has increased across the board and not by just a bit as I'm sure you'll know. I was paying £19.99 for 20 litres of cooking oil it's now £41.99

[dan cake]

7 hours ago, Malcolm said:

I really feel for anyone running a small business trying to navigate this just now.  It’s anecdotal stuff like, someone running a small music venue, was paying 10k, new bill 114k so handing back the keys.

Was in my local carpet shop yesterday the boy showed me his old bill £60 and his new bill £231, who’s going to walk round a carpet shop when you can see your own breath

[Malcolm]

who is going to foot the enormous social security bill when there are 6m+ unemployed in the UK.   Better to head it off at the pass and cap energy for businesses.

[Kirk]

11 hours ago, Och Aye said:

I wish you the best of luck. Sincerely hope I'm wrong but can't see cafes surviving the energy hike on top of the food increase. Foodstuff has increased across the board and not by just a bit as I'm sure you'll know. I was paying £19.99 for 20 litres of cooking oil it's now £41.99

You're getting robbed for the oil, I pick it up for £33-£37 depending where I am but yes it was about £19 a year or so ago.

Same for everything I buy sadly, eggs are insane too. Will see what happens.