Just punched the figures in on my energy spreadsheets, following the announcement of the new charges applicable from 1 October.

Electricity for the coming year, assuming same usage as prior year will be £2114 whilst Gas will be £1447 bringing a total of £3561. Of course this is likely to further increase next January! Paid these past 12 months £1824 so another massive rise.

What does Truss have to say, that she will be giving tax cuts to help us out. Does she not know that many OAP's don't pay any tax!

I just despair.

I’m over £4k already from £1.6K this year already

Everybody stop paying by Direct Debit, how many customers are in credit and what interest do they receive,all you are doing is topping up the bank accounts of the energy companies.Your deal could be more expensive but set up an bank account and pay money into it to cover your energy bills.

In France only a 4% increase.
Lets see what our new democratically elected PM does......................

Martin Lewis having a rant here albeit very true,
https://youtu.be/rFCXDVZiMTI

We don’t elect PM’s we elect Party’s. You elect a President …..we don’t have one.

Just been reading an interesting book about postwar Europe. When the French politician Schuman approached the Labour government in 1950 to discuss the formation of the a common European body to oversee the coal and steel industry in the UK, France, Germany and the Benelux countries which would become the EU. Atlee and the Labour Goverment refused point blank to even discuss the matter backed by the the National Union of Mineworkers and so it was ignored. Churchill was leader of the opposition and asked Atlee to discuss it to see what was on offer, he believed that if it was worthwhile, then Britain at that time could negotiate a different method of governance to make it more democratically accountable. Atlee still refused and the offer was withdrawn.
Opportunity missed that was seized by De Gaulle.

By the membership of the Conservative party..................very democratic

We elect MPs for the constituencies in which we live. Usually they have a party label - was Martin Bell the last who didn't?

It used to be the case that if a sitting prime minister resigned the party's MPs elected a new PM from one of their number. That's how John Major succeeded Thatcher and Gordon Brown succeeded Blair.

Nowadays it goes out to the party members with both the Tories and Labour, which is is allegedly more democratic but actually leads to ridiculous situations like Corbyn becoming the Labour leader when the vast majority of Labour MPs didn't want him and Truss being about to succeed Johnson when she never got close to winning the backing of a majority of Tory MPs.

If there was another brexit vote how many people who voted brexit would now vote remain ?

know the energy problems and covid have not helped with our leaving but i,m sure at least 75 per cent would vote to remain. really doubt the dinghy diver problem would be any way as severe if we had remained for a start. reluctently i,d vote to remain now even with no love for the eu whatsoever. the old best of two evils vote.

I voted to join the European Economic Union in the 1975 referendum - or more accurately, voted to remain in as we'd already been in since 1973!

I would have voted against the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, which founded the European Union on the principle of ever greater political union in a federal state. We weren't given a referendum on that, so missed the chance to say we are in favour of the Common Market but against turning it into a political project (up yours, Delors).

The 2016 vote became a straight in/out choice. I voted Leave because I was still against political rule from Brussels, but didn't expect the lunatics to take over the asylum when it came to the manner of leaving. I would have backed the terms Mrs. May negotiated but she was shafted by the Tory extreme Right and the Labour Party, who wouldn't give up the fiction that they could get a better deal if only they were in power.

The terms negotiated and immediately reneged on by Johnson are a disaster for the UK. From the look of things Truss will make matters even worse. So in hindsight, I wish to God I'd never voted Leave.

the european parliament itself was the drawback as for me it was another expensive layer of government especially keeping what we already have. the present houses of commons and lords, regional councils, local councils, parish councils. how many layers of governance do we actually need.

I've just increased my D.D.'s this morning with EDF (Gas) from £60 to £100 per month & Shell Energy (Elec) from £72 to £150 just so I don't get in the negative situation come Christmas and I control my payments.

I just fear for many and hope this Government get off their arses, realise the problem and do something positive. I have my doubts though.

They won’t do much, most politicians well are there any real ones nowadays dont know what it’s like to wake up every day and go to work to earn a crust.

The government are now saying the next PM will look into ways of helping people out, giving grants only helps the energy companies make more money as the money goes straight to them, taxing profits they either withdraw investment or put the prices up to cover the tax so we end up paying in the long run. Good luck to who ever is in charge trying to sort it out.

Is the following idea totally naive?

The Government haul the bosses of the big energy companies in and say something like, "listen you're making an absolute killing because of world events, we want you to set up a voluntary (cough) fund of large proportions so that we the Government can distribute the money out to people in need of lower bills. If you don't comply, millions will go bankrupt, millions will not be able pay their bills, there will be civil unrest, we will lose an election, Labour will get into power and most likely nationalise your companies, meaning you, by greed have killed your golden goose - this will not be a windfall tax, it will be you and your industry doing the right thing, putting a bit back"

The problem is OFGEM

Not fit for purpose.

Big brother doesn't need to regulate energy prices, leave this to a competitive free market.

the main problem will be giving out any money to those who need it. it will be i suppose those on benefits that get it plus pensioners. can see those on low wages missing out yet again. people get so emotive when the word pensioner is used. they think of the little old lady looking for out of date cheap bargains at the supermarket going back to a dark and freezing house. never the saga ones that are bloody loaded with second summer homes or winter abroad.

The last energy handout was for everyone the same as the Council Tax one, wether your a millionaire or not very well off you got it, very ill thought out scheme.

where you actually start though is the thing. you could be above the area average wage but circumstances you are in means your bill is far more than your neighbour if you have someone in your house that needs the heating on more and are housebound. others can be out of the house 12 hours a day or more who earn less but with much lower bills.

No matter what is done it will be criticised. You can't please all of the people all of the time.
According to Boris there is a huge package of help ready to be announced as soon as the new leader is announced.
We can judge as and when we know what it is and how it will affect us.
I see the priorities as, we have to get everybody through the winter and tackle inflation.
How we achieve that or not will be in the detail.
We shall see.

Like every price rise will we ever see energy prices return to the level they were before even if the Ukraine/Russian conflict finished tomorrow me being the ever optimist I would say no.

think the vast majority realise that once something goes up even by 10p the best we will ever get is 5p back from that. when that happens so many are grateful but forget its gone up 5p anyway.

The price of food never comes down.
Energy n Petrol mite come down a fraction eventually.
But reckon the BOE are living in dream world if they reckon they can get inflation back down to 2%.

But hitching the interest rate up will be a nice litter earner for themselves with the money they will have in their own large bank accounts.

It’s like when new potatoes come on the market the price goes up in the Fish and Chip Shops, chips never come back down in price.

they should come down as new spuds make lousy chips. when they advertise they are using new ones i take it as a warning to enter at your peril.

Just had delivered through the door a menu for a "new" chicken takeaway and their Party Platter is advertised at £58.49 + £2.50 delivery.

£63 - Who can afford that - About a week's worth of food for us.

And probably alll frozen stuff thrown into a deep fat fryer, I doubt very much it would be freshly cooked chicken.
Supply and demand, the demand is obviously out there, I bet home food delivery do a roaring trade today.

Reading that wholesale gas prices have gone from 38p/Therm to 537p/Therm since 2021. That suggests that the producers have had 1,313% increase in revenue for doing nothing. Fortunately the company I pay for my gas and electric is purely a distributor and there is a cap so I haven't seen my bills increase by the whole 1,313% for gas (plus the 40% of electricity that was produced from gas last year).

The people really raking it in are sovereign wealth funds who could increase production to cover the shortfall created by sanctions with Russia to keep prices down but choose not to. They have created the market and are controlling the prices, they are the people our government should be talking to.

It’s an absolute disgrace. The system, the market, is not fit for purpose yet the people who designed it, who allow it, just let it continue as the “market” is everything and they themselves haven’t the honesty or brain power to change things to benefit the majority of citizens.

the silly buggers will pay for that because they see it as saving the gas or electric to cook it themselves.

talking of spuds i have heard there will be a shortage, another word for price rise, as there has been another bad harvest again this year due to the weather. its either too wet, too dry, too cold or too hot. do they ever get the perfect growing conditions ever for anything in this country.

The new Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm has started to produce electricity. It is four times the size of Manchester, the biggest of it's kind in the World and is expected to supply 1.3 million homes. The next one, Hornsea 3 is being built and that one will be bigger still, supplying 2.8 million homes.
That and the use of solar panels coupled with the production of better storage batteries will be the road to self sufficiency and reduce the need for fossil fuelled energy. If each property can produce enough for that property's daily needs plus enough to charge the property's battery to sustain night time energy requirements we will have winner winner chicken dinner.
Not to mention the positive affect on the environment. A lot cheaper as well.

Whilst wind farms don’t require fuel they are expensive to build, instal and maintain, they are offshore so need sea going vessels to maintain them The other issue is the there isn’t always wind or if there is too much they have to be shut down or the blades would be damaged, false economy ?

The policy of giving various handouts to various people in the country is flawed.
The government needs to either nationalise the industry, set a price and swallow a financial pill or set the price and subsidise the energy companies.
Doing this will stabilise the economy. The cost like covid19 will need to be financed over decades.
Remember the western economies are effectively at war with Russia.
This is not a blip of the market.

There are advantages and disadvantages to most solutions, as there are backers and critics. The proof of the pudding, as always, is in the eating. The experts seem to be in favour as off shore wind farms are springing up everywhere. There is an abundant source of energy available courtesy of mother nature, so it seems reasonable to do our best to harness it. Most innovative ideas incur expense but once experience kicks in costs tend to decrease. It won't be long before new builds are required to be solar energised, with built in battery rooms to store the excess produced. It needs someone to come up with a feasible plan to use tide movement and that will be cracked someday.
All these renewable, environmentally stable solutions are making good progress but there will always be the pessimistic doom mongers who will poo poo it and then be first in the queue to take advantage.
Where there's a will there's a way.

We had a facility to store gas, store it in the summer ready for use in the winter, ok nobody knew the Russia Ukraine war would kick off.The annoying part was Centrica wanted the government to subsidise the repairs albeit it was a private company.
Rough is a natural gas storage facility under the North Sea off the east coast of England. It is capable of storing 100 billion cubic feet of gas, nearly double the storage capacities in operation in Great Britain in 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_(facility)

In the early 1990s coal fired power stations had to have at least 6 months of coal on stock at the power plant at the start of each winter. No fuel storage was required at the gas fired stations that replaced them. Another example of the bias against coal that was showed by the Major and Blair governments and regulators.

Martin Lewis?
Against my gut feeling,I didn't fix a new deal when my old one finished,due to his advice.
What a mistake.

Doing away the our own energy supply & the obsession of green energy has led us to this path.
Plus relying on another country who can just turn the 'taps' of has confounded the matter.

What affect did Brexit have on the energy crisis?
Gas prices & the war in the Ukraine would have still happened.
Germany is the biggest player in the EU & their energy crisis is worse than ours.

The other day the Belgian energy minister said the EU was in dire straits with the energy crisis and forecasted there would be at least five years to bear with this and most probably ten.
The EU appears to be in a worse state than we are.
German sources said last week that they were stockpiling gas ready for the winter and guess what, Putin has just closed down the pipeline for alleged necessary repairs. At best the Russian supply of gas to Germany is averaging 20% of normal demand. The French have accused Putin as using gas as a weapon of war. No one in their right mind would want to rejoin that fiasco.
Remoaners are scaremongering as usual.
We're out and we're staying out.
End of.

WHAT HAS THE EU EVER DONE FOR US?
I am often asked this by leave supporters, so here are a few facts.
Over 40 years of peace
Erasmus and overseas study
A home market of over 500 million consumers
Cheaper flights and compensation for delays
Help with tax avoidance
Maternity and paternity leave
Stronger voice in the world
Consumer protection
Investment in arts and culture
Cleaner air
Paid holiday leave
Maximum working hours
Cheaper mobile calls and international roaming
Visa-free travel across Europe
The right to work in the EU
Funding for UK regions
Opportunities for young people - our future leaders
Funding for start-ups
44% of UK exports
Safer food standards
3 million jobs
Lower prices in shops
The world's strongest animal welfare rights
Rights for part-time workers
Single market with no export charges of red tape
Product safety standards
Standards in the workplace
Europe-wide patent and copyright protection
Free healthcare across Europe
Cleaner beaches and waterways
Cooperation on counter-terrorism intelligence
Rights in equal rights pay for men and women
Protection against discrimination based on gender, race, religion, age,
disability and sexual orientation
Strongest wildlife protection in the world
Investment and collaboration in science
European arrest warrant
Improved standards for farm animals
I'm sure this list is not exhaustive. So, Brexiteers, my challenge to you
can you match it?

not knocking any of these incentives but they are all in the future. its the present and near future thats the worry for most. the industrial revolution started over 250 years ago so whats a few more years waiting and carrying on as we are going to make that much of a difference to the world. that 2030 figure of net zero is costing us all one way or another. 2050 may be a more realistic date giving us more time to get other countries on board who are causing far bigger problems than we are but are suffering.

Spot on.

Mother nature also supplied coal, oil & gas, but not in unlimited quantities. Unless daylight ends, the wind stops blowing, & the tides stop turning, these are infinite power sources

You forgot to mention how much we contributed to this club. Also whatever "benefits" we enjoyed across Europe we reciprocated to the Europeans whilst being members. As members of this club we were entitled to the same conditions as the other members apart from the fact it cost us a lot more than most of the other members, which is why they fought tooth and nail to keep us and would welcome us back this afternoon.
Brexit is done and it caused a lot of division and bitterness within the country and you my friend are hell bent on keeping the division going. This forum is not going to become a battleground for resurrecting that division.

And today Bojo signed off for some new nuclear power plants to be built,unfortunately 20 years too late.

And today Bojo signed off for some new nuclear power plants to be built,unfortunately 20 years too late.[/

Guess who is building the proposed Sizewell C, 80% French, EDF and 20% Chinese, CGN both state owned the same people who are building Hinkley Point C.

The equivalent price for electricity from offshore windfarms was well over £120/MWh. But wind costs have fallen fast. Today new wind projects are fixed at about £50/MWh, well under half the price of Hinkley power.
So, the big question for Hinkley watchers is this. By 2026, will the electricity it produces look very expensive ?

Why oh why are we allowing foreign state owned companies to build our nuclear power stations more so the Chinese who could at any minute invade Taiwan or be putting some sort of gizmo in the control systems where as they could shut down/hack the plant ?
We are currently being screwed by foreign owned utility companies yet we are now allowing them to have more control over us by allowing them to build and own power stations in the U.K. it wouldn’t happen in any other developed country on the planet.

You'll have to ask Boris for an answer to your questions, but hurry up cos next Monday he'll be elsewhere.
I can answer the Chinese gizmo one....it's the script for a future blockbuster fillum starring the one and only James Bond. There will be a sudden upsurge of Chinese restaurants/take aways as new agents are trained and infiltrated into our society.
They will all be wearing a boy scout necker and carrying the Daily Telegraph.

We have no capability to build our own nuclear plants. When Sizewell B was approved under CEGB plans in 1986 it was for a foreign design built under licence (Westinghouse). Nearly all the engineers and scientists who worked on that design will now be retired.

Nothing to stop the UK using a foreign design, I believe the new aircraft carriers were part foreign design and the the planes in the RAF are American design, just keep them in U.K. ownership