energy bills Archives - ... on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tax every penny of windfall profits oil and gas giants have made since illegal war on Iran, say Greens

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Green Party MP Hannah Spencer by ©House of Commons, CC BY 3.0

Commenting on the new energy price cap announced today by the Regulator Ofgem, that could see a 13% increase in a typical household’s energy prices, Hannah Spencer, Green MP for Gorton and Denton, said:

“Today’s Ofgem price cap announcement will leave so many people even more stressed out and worried about affording their energy bills. Millions of people are already struggling to make ends meet, and it is unacceptable that energy costs continue to shoot up whilst BP’s profits double.

“We need immediate government intervention. Rachel Reeves needs to step in and freeze the cap before energy bills go up on July 1st. And if she’s wondering how to pay for it, there are some people doing very well out of this crisis. The government should start by taxing every penny of the huge windfall profits oil and gas giants have made since the start of the illegal war on Iran.

“Our energy market is incredibly unfair, built to line the pockets of shareholders whilst working people foot the bill. It’s a damning indictment of rip off Britain that simply keeping our homes warm enough in winter and cool enough in summer has become a luxury very few people can afford. We need urgent action, now.”

Post author:dizzy
Post published:29 May 2026
Post category:Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Green Party Hannah Spencer Labour Party Neo-liberalism politics Rachel Reeves
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Energy bills will rise by £209 a year to £1,850 from July, forecaster says

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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/19/energy-bills-rise-july-gas-electricity-prices-cap-great-britain-iran-war

The main driver for the increase in the forecast energy price cap is rising wholesale gas and electricity prices. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Cornwall Insight predicts rise in price cap of nearly 13% in Great Britain as Iran war pushes up gas costs

Energy bills for households in Great Britain could increase by more than £200 a year to almost £1,900 from this summer in “a kick in the teeth” for millions struggling with the cost of living crisis.

A typical gas and electricity bill is forecast to rise to the equivalent of £1,850 a year from July under the industry regulator Ofgem’s quarterly price cap, according to analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight.

The expected level is nearly 13% higher than the £1,641 cap on energy bills set for April to June, adding £209 to a typical annual bill, after the Iran war caused the UK’s gas market price to double earlier this year.

The main driver for the increase is rising wholesale energy prices, according to Cornwall. Prices climbed sharply in February and March after Tehran effectively cut off Gulf energy supplies to the global market by shutting the strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

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Cornwall said that, even if the Iran war ended tomorrow, “the physical damage to infrastructure, and lingering effect of disrupted supply, means a fall back to April’s price cap levels in the autumn looks unlikely”.

Its principal consultant, Craig Lowrey, said: “If the cap stays at a similar level as July, that is when the government will need to think seriously about targeted support for the most vulnerable.

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Article at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/19/energy-bills-rise-july-gas-electricity-prices-cap-great-britain-iran-war

Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy. — Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:20 May 2026
Post category:Benjamin Netanyahu Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Donald Trump Fascism Iran Israel Keir Starmer Labour Party Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism plutocracy politics USUK Zionism
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Reacting to large price hikes that kick in today at the start of what has been dubbed ‘awful April’, co-leader of the Green party, Carla Denyer, said:

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time. — Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

“Energy bills up to nearly £2000 a year. Water bills up by 31% in some areas. Basic food prices keep rising – the list goes on. People aren’t fooling around when they say today is the start of “Awful April”. Especially awful for single parents who we know will be hit hardest by these price hikes.

“These spiralling costs come on the back of axing winter fuel payments for pensioners, refusing to remove the two-child benefit cap and cutting benefits for the sick and disabled.

“These are political choices. Rather than making the poorest and most vulnerable in society bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis, Labour could have chosen instead to tax a tiny percentage of the wealth of multi-millionaires and billionaires. They’ve made a choice, to take money off the old, ill and disabled.

“Labour have again and again made the wrong choices, which has left many of the poorest households at breaking point.”

Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:1 April 2025
Post category:Carla Denyer conservatives Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Green Party Labour Party Neo-liberalism
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Disabled people on PIP ‘will not cope’ if support is cut, charity warns

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/disabled-people-on-pip-will-not-cope-if-support-cut-charity-warns

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting, March 11, 2025

ALMOST two-thirds of disabled people on Personal Independence Payments (PIP) “will not cope” without it, a charity has warned, amid reports that the government will reduce the benefit.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to unveil reforms aimed at reducing welfare costs that ministers have described as “unsustainable.”

Reports suggest that PIP, the main benefit for working-age adults both in and out of work, could be frozen rather than increased in line with inflation, delivering a real-terms cut for 3.6 million claimants.

A new analysis from Sense has found that 38 per cent of PIP recipients with complex needs are already behind on energy bills.
Almost half — 46 per cent — are struggling to afford essential costs such as council tax and water, while 41 per cent are living in debt due to benefits failing to cover the cost of essentials like food.

Fifty-eight per cent of those polled reported significant ongoing extra costs due to disability and 53 per cent said their PIP payments were insufficient to cover those expenses.

Sense chief executive James Watson-O’Neill said PIP “exists because living with a disability means facing higher costs, from increased energy bills to specialised equipment and specific diets.”

“These additional expenses won’t disappear if eligibility is tightened. It will only plunge more disabled people into poverty.

“Making it harder to access benefits won’t help disabled people find jobs either. It will only deepen the struggle.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/disabled-people-on-pip-will-not-cope-if-support-cut-charity-warns

Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum. — Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.

Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.

These cuts betray Labour’s basic principles

Post author:dizzy
Post published:17 March 2025
Post category:austerity Austerity 2 benefits Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Keir Starmer Labour Party Liz Kendall Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism Rachel Reeves
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Jeremy Corbyn: Keir Starmer says there’s no money – I don’t believe him

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https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/05/jeremy-corbyn-keir-starmer-says-no-money-dont-believe-22673792/

I said that I would praise Keir Starmer when I thought he was performing well (Picture: Getty Images)

‘There’s no money’.

That always seems to be the current government’s response when asked to tackle the enormous crises affecting the UK.

But as Keir Starmer announces he will ramp up military spending, and as Rachel Reeves plans to slash welfare budgets, we must never forget what impact government funding choices have on the most vulnerable people in society.

As we speak, 4.3 million children in the UK are living in relative poverty. Over 350,000 people are homeless in England.

Millions are worried about the cost of heating their home, braced for yet another hike in energy bills. Meanwhile, billionaires are richer than ever.

So what is the government doing?

They could lift children out of poverty, if they wanted to, by scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

STEADFAST DART 25 (STDT25), the principal NATO exercise for 2025, will be the first large-scale deployment of NATO?s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) exercise conducted across various geographical locations within SACEUR?s area of responsibility. It is the largest NATO exercise in 2025, with approximately 10.000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines from 9 Allies, and it will be based on NATO?s new defence plans. NARRATIVE In response to an evolving and unpredictable security environment, NATO has implemented the biggest increase in collective defence since the Cold War. NATO has a new generation of defence plans, and is integrated with national military planning like never before. These defence plans make the Alliance stronger and better able to deter and, if necessary, defend against any potential adversary in any domain, and at any time. A critical component of NATO?s plans, which are designed to safeguard the Euro-Atlantic?s one billion inhabitants, is having high-readiness forces across all domains able to rapidly respond to any emerging or known threat. NATO?s new robust and agile Allied Reaction Force is central to this. Throughout January and February 2025, NATO will conduct Exercise Steadfast Dart in order to test and train the operational deployment of the Allied Reaction Force and rapid reinforcement of NATO assets located along its eastern flank. Steadfast Dart 25 is an alert and deployment exercise, and the first time the Allied Reaction Force will exercise an operational deployment since the Force?s establishment on July 1, 2024. The exercise will demonstrate NATO?s ability to activate the Allied Reaction Force, and coordinate its swift transit to where it can deliver strategic deterrence effects by bolstering forces already situated in location. Steadfast Dart 25 will showcase the Allied Reaction Force as a strategic, high-readiness, multi-domain and multinational capability that can be deployed and employed rapidly to strengthen deterrence in peacetime and crisis, and support the Alliance?s defence in conflict. NATO exercises such as this are defensive, transparent and proportionate, and conducted in full respect of our international obligations. Exercise aim: Exercise Steadfast Dart 2025 is the first large-scale deployment of NATO?s Allied Reaction Force (ARF). The aim is to test the deployable capabilities and procedures as well as the interoperability among the troop contributors and host nations. The NATO Allied Reaction Force (ARF) is a strategic, high-readiness, multi-domain capable force. It provides multi-domain forces from across the Alliance to produce effects at shorter notice than has previously been possible. STDT25 will demonstrate NATO's ability to rapidly deploy forces to reinforce NATO assets located along its eastern flank. This reinforcement will occur during a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary. It will show that NATO Allied Reaction Force (ARF) can conduct and sustain complex operations across thousands of kilometers in the Eastern Europe, and in any condition. STDT25 will be a clear demonstration of NATO?s unity, strength and determination to continue to do all that is necessary to protect each other, our common values and the rules-based international order. NATO exercises are defensive, transparent, proportionate, and conducted in full respect of our international obligations. — Keir Starmer says that a changing world means we have to increase defence spending (Picture: Ministry of Defence)

They could help pensioners with energy bills, if they wanted to, by restoring universal winter fuel allowance.

They could ensure nobody had to sleep rough on the streets, if they wanted to, by launching a massive council-house-building programme.

Instead, they have signed off on a 13.4 billion increase in military spending. With that money, the government could scrap the two-child benefit cap 10 times over.

Now, today, we’re told the government is preparing to cut billions from welfare budgets.

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