Shareholders profits more important than saving an OAP's life.

[avidcameron]

This is how the mafia work,threatening to hold people to ransom unless they can extort profits from them to the max.

 

The Banking mafia are the same,threatening to withdraw from the UK if they are over regulated...........holding the government and with it the public to ransom,now this guy Neil Woodford,chief critic of Milliband, because it would hit his profits...........pulled out of Severn Trent because the regulator,OFWAT,the guys who represent the customer,was making things too difficult for him to make money on the back of the public..........so he pulled out............have Severn Trent gone bankrupt?.........has water stopped running?.........threats and blackmail,that's what the business mafia fall back on when things look like going against them.

 

Businesses are worse as they do not face the risk of prosecution.I would love to see the police take on the likes of Perpetual/Invesco and Neil Woodward.

[Happ Hazzard]

You wanted evidence in your first post and you were given it. Now you go on to state that "plenty" are dying because of the cold despite having plenty of money. One minute you want evidence and the next you tell us their dropping like rich lemmings

 

Considering you worked for age concern it doesn't seem to have sunk in that finances are not just the problem. Age itself (mentally) can have an effect. Financial and social pressures combined can also take its toll. Old folk are very independent and proud, the cartels know this and quite frankly probably don't give a toss anyway.

There was no evidence of OAPs dying because they couldn't afford to put the heating on. One of the articles even says:

“The biggest problem is trying to convince them to turn it on in the first place, but it is simply not worth the risk of hypothermia.

Which was entirely my point.

 

As far as "finances are not just the problem", which of the other problems are the fault of the energy firms?

[chalga]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/25/energy-firms-lobbying-miliband-price-freeze

 

 

This article shows the corruption and collusion between the government and energy suppliers,including the energy suppliers writing energy policy for the government,plus representatives of energy suppliers being brought into the governments inner circle of power and influence

 

QUOTE:

 

Current government policy, developed by the Conservatives while in opposition, was heavily influenced by two of the big six, EDF and British Gas-owner Centrica, according to industry sources.

 

"They were terribly helpful in spending lots of time writing policy for them," said one source. "EDF and Centrica are now just an offshoot of Decc – they are all so in bed with each other they are indistinguishable."

 

 

After the election, Centrica's chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, was appointed to David Cameron's business advisory council, while the prime minister's current energy advisor in No 10, Tara Singh, is a former Centrica employee.

 

"Companies such as the big six energy firms do not lend their staff to government for nothing – they expect a certain degree of influence, insider knowledge and preferential treatment in return," said Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP, when the secondments were revealed.

 

 

The energy company trade body, Energy UK, hired high-powered lobbyist and former Conservative minister Angela Knight in 2012 to represent the industry and Knight has done dozens of interviews since the Miliband announcement.

 

But Burke said: "I think they made a big mistake. She was the person who told us to stop being nasty to the banks with all that regulation."

[AdamSmith]

i see " Ed the- red Milliband" has been making rash promises to cap the energy companies?? is that a vote winner or what? i wonder if the government pensions invest in energy companies??? how many more schemes can he come up with to try and get the labour vote back....oh yes votes for 16 yr olds:roll:

[chalga]

i see " Ed the- red Milliband" has been making rash promises to cap the energy companies?? is that a vote winner or what? i wonder if the government pensions invest in energy companies??? how many more schemes can he come up with to try and get the labour vote back....oh yes votes for 16 yr olds:roll:

 

There's a simple answer,stop power bills going up and pensioners will not need to spend as much pension to pay them,therefore,pensions need not go up as much.......bang.........fox shot.

Alternatively,just threaten the energy companies that they will pull all the investment out of them if they don't cap bills,like banks if people pulled out their money and stopped using them,they would soon realise that they relied on public money to keep them going,instead of them using public money to keep their profits up,then,invest the pension money somewhere else.

 

 

Milliband tells it like it is,corruption,weak government,allowing unbridled capitalism to work against consumers,threats,scare stories...........all designed to keep the status quo in place and the people with vested interests and agendas to flourish.

 

 

 

He said: “It makes me think of the banks. The banks used to threaten, conjure up scare stories, talk about the impact of regulation, and the Conservative Party supported them, and actually we should have had tougher regulation, and so it makes me think that actually we’ve got to do the right thing by the country, and that’s what I’m going to do.” He added: “Threats, scare stories, that’s not the way we should make policy, we should make policy in the national interest, the interest of the British public and that’s what I’m going to do.”

[Ms Macbeth]

I don't get the argument that we pensioners can't afford to heat our homes. Even the poorest pensioner nowadays gets a reasonable amount of disposable income if they are claiming all their entitlements. Don't forget the £200 winter fuel allowance for pensioner households. And for those on the means tested Pension Credit, cold weather payments will also be paid when the temperature is really low. Pension credit rates: Single people £145.40 & Couples £222.05.

 

What do people think is affordable energy costs on those incomes? I'd be interested to see how it compares with what my OH and I pay.

[I1L2T3]

I don't get the argument that we pensioners can't afford to heat our homes. Even the poorest pensioner nowadays gets a reasonable amount of disposable income if they are claiming all their entitlements. Don't forget the £200 winter fuel allowance for pensioner households. And for those on the means tested Pension Credit, cold weather payments will also be paid when the temperature is really low. Pension credit rates: Single people £145.40 & Couples £222.05.

 

What do people think is affordable energy costs on those incomes? I'd be interested to see how it compares with what my OH and I pay.

 

The average dual fuel bill is about £1300 a year. If a couple is on £220 a week it really depends whether they have to pay rent. Council tax on top. Phone. Food. Not much left is there?

[Happ Hazzard]

How much left do you expect to be?

[tinfoilhat]

Did people die in the 70s and 80s through cold when energy was nationalised? I bet they did. Where would I find such figures, or even some that would contradict my theory? When was the first death where someone died of cold because they couldn't afford to put the fire on?

[Happ Hazzard]

I would imagine far more people died of cold when central heating was rare and many people relied on coal fires for warmth.