Energy
Morning Star
CAMPAIGNERS vowed to sue energy regulator Ofgem today for failing to protect people from energy bills set to rise by a staggering 80 per cent on October 1.
The announcement coincided with the price cap on energy bills rising to an eyewatering £3,549, up 80 per cent on the current limit.
The new cap comes into effect for about 24 million households across Britain on October 1 and is due to rise further on December 31.
It follows the publication of research by the Unite union showing that “rampant corporate profiteering” by supply and distribution networks is fuelling Britain’s soaring energy costs.
The legal action by the Good Law Project (GLP), Fuel Poverty Action and the Highlands and Islands Affordable Homes Warmth Group is the first of its kind in response to the energy bill crisis.
Mail
Britain must not bow down to ‘Project Fear 2.0’ scare stories if it is to stave off a recession, experts warn today.
The country faces soaring energy bills, widespread drought, sewage overflowing into rivers and the sea, and long queues for holidaymakers at the border.
But John Longworth, the former head of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the UK’s supposed demise had been hugely overplayed by merchants of doom intent on proving Brexit was to blame.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, he said the country was witnessing ‘a resurrection of Project Fear’ – the campaign born during the 2016 EU referendum to scare people into voting Remain.
And in a stark warning, the entrepreneur said that if the public continued to be beaten down by ‘endless gloom’ the nation would talk itself into a recession.
‘It is clear to me that a clandestine cabal of well-funded campaigners is once again gathering. I call it Project Fear 2.0,’ he said. ‘Be in no doubt that there are grave issues facing this country. But sewage in rivers has nothing to do with Brexit, nor the European Union.’
Express
LIZ TRUSS has said she has a “clear plan” to tackle the current cost of living crisis as many UK citizens worry the current rise in energy bills will put many people in fuel poverty this winter.
On Friday the UK energy regulator Ofgem announced the annual price cap for annual energy bills would rise from £1, 971 to £3, 549 this October. The energy company E.on has suggested one in eight UK households are currently struggling to pay their bills and predicts the figures will rise to 40 percent in October when the new price cap begins.
On Sunday, Conservative leader candidate Liz Truss spoke with the Sunday Mail about her plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Independent
Liz Truss’s plans to combat the cost-of-living crunch would leave four million families “out in the cold”, Labour has claimed.
Assuming that any further direct support for families introduced by Ms Truss would be rolled out only to those on benefits, the party calculated that millions with children would miss out on the extra help.
Ms Truss previously signalled she could help firms and households with soaring energy bills with direct support this winter.
She was looking at assistance “across the board” despite in the past insisting she was focused on slashing taxes, rather than what she termed “giving out handouts”.
Times
Liz Truss is considering cutting income tax and VAT as part of an emergency package to reduce the pain millions of households will feel from soaring energy bills.
Allies of the frontrunner for the Tory leadership believe that the personal allowance, the level above which people begin paying income tax, should be lifted several years ahead of the Treasury’s schedule. It is £12,570 at present.
Others in her team have proposed raising the point at which people tip into the higher rate of tax, 40 per cent, which now stands at £50,270. They are also considering cutting the basic rate below 20 per cent.
BBC News
Middle-earners, as well as low earners, are likely to need government help to pay their energy bills this winter, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has warned.
The energy regulator hiked the price cap on household bills by 80% on Friday, meaning the average bill will rise to £3,549 a year from October.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Zahawi said even those earning £45,000 a year may need support.
He said the Treasury was exploring “all the options” to help households.
He added that the country was in a “national economic emergency [that] could go on for 18 months, two years”.
Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, one of whom will be announced as the next prime minister on 5 September, have pledged further support, though neither has given details.
Telegraph
Liz Truss is considering a “nuclear” VAT cut of five per cent across the board to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Treasury will present the next prime minister with plans modelled on
Gordon Brown’s response to the 2008 financial crisis as part of a series of options to offset soaring energy bills.
The headline rate of VAT could be cut by up to five per cent – the largest ever reduction – which would save the average household more than £1,300 a year.
Officials believe it would also protect businesses from collapsing and could come alongside more targeted measures to help the worst-off with energy bills following Friday’s price cap increase to £3,549 from October.
Although Ms Truss insists no decisions on financial support will be taken until after the end of the Conservative leadership contest, she is understood to have discussed a VAT cut with her top advisers, thought to include Jacob Rees-Mogg, and has not ruled one out.
Independent
Conservative voters reject both Liz Truss’s and Rishi Sunak’s plans to tackle the energy crisis ahead of massive autumn price hikes, an exclusive poll for The Independent reveals.
Fewer than half of Tory supporters believe the contenders have solutions for the turmoil that will result from the increase in the average yearly gas and electricity bill, which will soar to £3,549 in October and is predicted to top £5,300 in January.
Worryingly for Ms Truss – who is the overwhelming favourite to replace Boris Johnson – just 48 per cent of Tories back her as the candidate to ease the cost of living emergency. This figure puts her only slightly ahead of Mr Sunak, who is backed on this measure by 44 per cent.
Morning Star
LIZ TRUSS’S cost-of-living plans will leave four million families without any additional support, the Labour Party warns today.
In the wake of Ofgem’s announcement that energy bills will go up by 80 per cent, Labour has accused the government of failing to respond adequately to the national emergency posed by the cost-of-living crisis.
The party accused Tory ministers of a “dereliction of duty” over their failure to appear on this morning’s broadcasts.
Labour contends that under the plans put forward by Tory leadership favourite Ms Truss, a couple living outside London who both work full-time, earn the average wage and have one child would not be eligible for any additional cost-of-living support.
Guardian
Britain is facing a wave of coordinated industrial action by striking unions this autumn in protest at the escalating cost of living crisis, the Observer can reveal.
A series of motions tabled by the country’s biggest unions ahead of the TUC congress next month demand that they work closely together to maximise their impact and “win” the fight for inflation-related pay rises.
The move, which includes the two biggest unions, Unison and Unite, comes amid growing anger at the government’s failure to agree a detailed package of help for families following Friday’s announcement that average gas and electricity bills are to rise by 80%.
Conservative Party
Express
LIZ TRUSS’S allies are already discussing her downfall with the Conservative Party “on the point of meltdown”, sources have said.
The race to become the next Tory leader and country’s Prime Minister is about to enter its final week with the Foreign Secretary tipped to beat rival Rishi Sunak. A recent YouGov poll for Sky News showed Ms Truss with a 32 percentage point lead over the former Chancellor.
Sixty-six percent of Tory members who have decided to vote support her while 34 percent back Mr Sunak, according to the survey.
The winner will be announced on September 5.
Mail
The Tories could be locked out of power for a generation under controversial ‘coalition of chaos’ plans expected to be backed by Labour this autumn.
Conservative election planners privately raised fears that Sir Keir Starmer‘s party will next month finally approve plans to scrap Britain’s historic first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system and replace it with ‘coalition-friendly’ proportional representation (PR).
This follows the decision by two of Labour’s powerful trade union backers to support electoral reform.
Last night, Tory MPs warned that the move would be a sop to Sir Keir’s likely Liberal Democrat partners in a weak coalition government.
Evening Standard
Liz Truss’ allies have admitted that it will be “impossible” for her to govern and unite the Conservative party effectively if she becomes leader.
Truss is widely expected to beat Rishi Sunak in the race to become Prime Minister on September 5 but one of her senior allies said she faces an “impossible” task in uniting the party following a bitter leadership battle between the two camps.
The unnamed ally of Ms Truss told The Times: “It’s gone too far. The people who are backing Sunak will not lose easily. Their own personal careers are more important than uniting the country.
“For Liz just governing is going to be impossible, never mind uniting the party. They will move against her. The winter is going to be awful.
“If she does badly in the May election they will get rid of her. They are collectively insane, and the party is on the point of meltdown.”
Telegraph
Jacob Rees-Mogg is to sell off £1.5 billion of government offices in central London after civil servants refused to stop working from home, The Telegraph can reveal.
Taxpayers should not have to “fork out for half-empty buildings”, according to the minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency, who said expensive office space had been “under-utilised”.
He said officials would enjoy a “better quality of life” if their jobs were relocated to offices outside London.
Next week, Mr Rees-Mogg will publish a Government Property Strategy aimed at realising £2 billion in savings from property sales and efficiencies.
Guardian
Jacob Rees-Mogg has revealed he is planning to sell off £1.5bn worth of government offices in London due to the proportion of civil servants continuing to work from home.
The minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency will publish a strategy next week that includes selling property assets over the next three years, with staff working in fewer buildings as part of a new network of government “hubs”, the Telegraph reported.
The proposal is part of a government property strategy aimed at raising £2bn in savings from property sales and efficiencies, and also encompasses the use of modern building materials and energy sources.
Independent
Jacob Rees-Mogg plans to sell off government offices in London in a move to cut costs as civil servants continue to work from home.
The minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency is organising property sales and a reduction in operating costs totalling £2bn as expensive office space in the capital is “under-utilised”, The Telegraph reports.
The strategy, set to be published next week, comes as Mr Rees-Mogg has called for Civil Service staff numbers to be cut by a fifth, and after his repeated criticism of civil servants continuing to work from home after the pandemic.
The proposal includes selling £1.5 billion of property over three years, with staff moving to a new network of government “hubs”, and £500 million worth of savings through lowering operating costs, updating energy sources and cutting spending on leases.
Defence
Express
TORY leadership contender Liz Truss today sets out plans to keep Britain safe in an increasingly dangerous world with a multi-billion pound boost in defence spending and the full renewal of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
She pledged to ensure the nation can defend itself against authoritarian regimes such as Russia and warned that we face “a generation-defining moment for freedom, security and liberty”. Mrs Truss said: “The era of complacency is over. We are living in an increasingly dangerous world and our security is under more threat than it has been in decades.”
The Foreign Secretary, seen as the front-runner in the battle to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, announced she would increase defence spending to three percent of GDP by 2030. The current defence budget, £42.4 billion, is around two percent of GDP.
NHS
Independent
Thousands of NHS community staff who rely on cars for work will be forced to leave their jobs and pursue other careers as they cannot afford soaring petrol prices, chiefs have warned.
Community services could lose eight per cent of staff in the next year, with NHS chiefs warning this will impact access to care for the most vulnerable children and adults, according to a survey shared with The Independent.
Under the latest estimates for annual energy prices, workers on the lowest salaries will be expected to spend a third of their monthly income on fuel, while an analysis of NHS data suggests that record levels of staff have already left their posts for better-paid jobs in the first three months of 2022.
As the cost of living crisis worsens, nurses have stopped making pension contributions in order to afford their home bills, while others have considered taking on second jobs – posing a risk to their wellbeing and the quality of care provided to patients.
Mail
NHS bosses are advertising a dozen well-paid ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ jobs – more than two months after being told to stop recruiting for ‘woke‘ positions.
In early June, then Health Secretary Sajid Javid launched a stinging rebuke at NHS top brass, saying there were ‘too many working in roles focused solely on diversity and inclusion… we must spend every penny on patients’ priorities’.
Currently there are 12 ‘ED&I’ roles advertised on the main NHS jobs website – all posted within the last month.
Three have salaries that could top £60,000, with eight paying at least £40,000. Together, the 12 jobs will cost between £474,236 and £540,827 a year.
Telegraph
More than a dozen NHS trusts are hiring diversity managers despite a government review suggesting the roles should be cut back.
An investigation has found at least 17 open jobs for diversity and inclusion roles across the country, budgeting up to almost £1 million in annual salaries.
It comes after a landmark report this summer set out plans for a shake-up of NHS management, including reducing the number of equality, diversity and inclusion roles over time.
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust is advertising for an interim associate director of equality, diversity and inclusion with a salary of up to £77,274 a year.
The candidate will lead the Trust’s equality strategy including the development of “an inclusive, diverse and engaging culture”, according to the job description.
ITV News
NHS pension scheme changes could be extended to allow retired staff to keep their retirement benefits if they return to the workforce.
A newly launched consultation will look at possibly extending rules that were temporarily changed under coronavirus laws so staff could come out of retirement or increase their working commitments without having their pension benefits payments suspended.
The measures, which were introduced in March 2020 to encourage recent and partial retirees back to the frontline in the pandemic, are currently set to run until October 31.
Health bosses said the consultation will ask the public and stakeholders about whether the changes should be extended to March 31 2023 ahead of a “challenging” winter as the NHS faces Covid-related backlogs, staffing issues and more people coming forward for checks.
Times
People no longer believe the NHS will treat them quickly if they fall ill, according to new polling showing wide dissatisfaction about the state of the health service.
With hundreds of ambulances stacked outside overstretched A&E departments and patients languishing on record waiting lists, voters are far more likely to say the service has worsened than improved in the last year.
Fifty-eight per cent are not confident they would receive timely treatment from the NHS if they fell ill tomorrow, with 36 per cent not confident at all and 22 per cent just not confident. Meanwhile, 45 per cent believe the service they receive has worsened in the past 12 months.
Education
Sun
PANICKING school chiefs say they are considering buying jumpers to keep poorer kids warm in class this winter as energy bills rocket.
The stark warning comes as the Treasury draws up proposals to send hard-pressed families cheques in the post to ease the cost of living hell.
Officials are scrambling to come up with a plan after the energy price cap was hiked to £3,549 on Friday. It is expected to hit £6,600 next year.
Last night, schools chief Steve Chalke said headteachers are drawing up contingency plans as they brace for rocketing bills gobbling up budgets.
Mr Chalke — who runs the Oasis Academies chain — said: “Whatever happens, we have got to keep the heating on in schools. We can’t allow students to freeze.
“We may be able to turn it down by a degree or two and ask everybody to wear jumpers.
“Schools may ask children to bring jumpers in, but we have a lot of students from poor socio-economic groups. So we will have to provide the jumpers.”
Mail
School chiefs have warned they may have to buy jumpers for poorer children in their classrooms as energy bills rocket.
The Government is getting ready for a stinging 80 per cent hike in energy tariffs from October which experts fear could wipe out the savings of six million families.
The price rise is set to push the average household’s yearly bill up from £1,971 to £3,549.
A senior teacher on £45,000 a year could see their energy bills go up by 80 per cent, with costs rising even higher in the new year.
Demands for higher direct debit payments — at an average of an extra £1,600 a year — will be sent out within days.
Whatever solutions they come up with, if I was the Government, I wouldn’t want to be giving all the goodies away at the first throw of the dice.
The situation is forecast to get much worse over the next year or so.
So it would be wise to keep a few aces up their sleeve.
They should also remind the opposition and others that the trashing of the economy through te Covid lockdowns is their joint responsibility. They collectively took the 10,000 pieces of silver cost bribe and thus are all in it together.
Plus many of them are remainders who messed up the early conclusion of Brexit.
It would of worked for UK advantage if we had been able to hit the ground running, before the “enemy” got their defences and obstructions organised.
Thanks Debbie.
For some reason the site seems to have gone back to how it used to be today.
Price of gas. It’s simple supply and demand. The supply has been cut by Putin causing a shortfall. Ergo the wholesale price goes up.
The Russian economy will be destroyed. Nobody will buy Russian gas again.
Biden pronounced the ‘rouble would be rubble’ back in March and it hasn’t happened. Meanwhile the Europeans are facing recession, fuel/energy inflation, leaders are falling and civil disorder looms. China and India are rightly taking advantage of cheap and plentiful Russian energy whilst many poor in Europe freeze this winter and businesses fail due to inflated energy and raw resource costs. At that point Europe may be on its economic knees just where Uncle Sam wants them and he will finally be able to make a killing shipping their huge quantities of LPG gas over here.
How many more times will you trot out that rubbish. Supply has been cut by the EU and others who boasted of being off Russian gas by Christmas. And with the West’s behaviour it is surprising Putin did not help them achieve that sooner. He may be an unsavoury character but unlike most Western politicians he is an adult and understands the world.
Labour: completely out of touch with reality and those who mistakenly support it.
Afterthought: we could probably apply that to the Cons too with an added dose of globalism.
Wow. Looks like I can talk to a commenter today.
Jack Thomas. I agree about Labour and it’s supporters.
Will the free jumpers proposed for kids display a slogan? Maybe ‘Net Zero 2050’ on the front and ‘Im saving the planet’ on the back.
Get rid of the office space and WFH time wasters. The only defence we need is in the Channel, no extra required. Sack the NHS bosses immediately for undermining “patient priority” . We have had solar panels for twelve years (we don’t receive the feed-in tariff but get the benefit of some free electricity). We have had a hy-brid car for six years as more efficient, following retirement. Neither of those things are going to protect us from the tsunami that is coming unless you live in a cave. I am changing my direct debit to a standing order. Enough is enough.
Please please please . To fight inflation cut, some of the taxes on businesses., Not just income tax. Income tax and NHI are far more insidious since the dreadful introduction of PAYE Which turned it into a business tax. This, is rearguard action from the treasury, which wants more money passing thru their hands to get the power of giving it away..