Amazing petrol prices are coming down and not before time I hear you say! Just a few months ago motorists and hauliers were facing real hardship when petrol/diesel prices rocketed. It amazes me though that the fat cat oil companies can think that we the British public are stupid. It is a fact that since the 30th May 2008 to the present day the base prices of crude oil is down by some 44.49%! So where i ask is the full reduction?
This winter our old folk will think long and hard before they put their heating on and when they go to bed they will think is it cold enough for the electric blanket, can we really afford to put it on? Out of the basic state pension of £145.05 after rent, food bills and the such like it is a very real worry when pensioners here the utility companies are planning yet another rise. You may be interested to learn that actually the cost price of Natural Gas has dropped by 46.16% since the 30th May this year!
Families in Stoke and indeed the whole country are seeing rises in their mortgages even though the Bank of England has dropped the base rate three times in a row, there is talk that we may see further dramatic reductions in interest rates in a bid to stave off recession. Our weekly shopping bills have risen on average by £600 per year.
As the cost of living continues to rise, the truth is that average wages in our city are among the lowest in the country £360 per week in comparison to the national average of £450 per week.
Today we have heard that staff at the various JCB factories in our area have been told to consider a reduced working week or risk more job cuts.
To add to the doom and gloom, the high street are facing the prospects of a very bleak Christmas sales period. People who are facing a hike in living costs are likely to cut down the cost of the festive period.
What are your thoughts on the rising costs of living and big fat cat companies not passing on the reduction of costs on to us the consumers? What do you want our politicians to do both in government and in opposition? It's time to hear from you and the rise in costs of living that you face?
To read the JCB story in the Sentinel follow this link:
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/CUT-HOURS-NEW-JOB/article-404023-detail/article.html
11 comments:
To give credit where its due I think Gordon Brown is handling the economic crisis as well as anyone could. I'd certainly rather have him in charge of our country during an emergency than Cameron.
What we are seeing are the effects of unrestricted capitalism and banks and markets which have not been regulated sufficiently, basically the long term legacy of Reaganomics and Thatcherism.
These are problems that will need to be beaten at national level government, but that won't happen with this triumvirate of mediocrity
that the electorate keep voting for. We need to expand our use of new and renewable energy sources, and this is something that the government should have spent money on for at least the last decade. It's vital as well, that we find alternatives to oil based products, at the minute this country is being held to ransom by the suppliers of our gas, and in particular by the OPEC countries
that have manipulated the price of oil in order to fill their accounts with even more of our money.
Our one big hope of overcoming this position, is increasing our self sufficiency. Farming needs to play a much larger part than it does at the minute, but then it is particularly hard hit by EU interference and redtape. Producing the energy we use ourselves is also a part of it, but I think if we are not only to survive, but to prosper, then we need to inwardly invest as much as we can in to rebuilding our manufacturing infrastructure.
None of these things is achievable if we don't leave the EU and regain our sovereignty, and all three 'mainstream' parties will not do this. If you think your choices are hard in the upcoming referendum, wait for the general election, when your choice could mean sink or swim for Britain.
No such thing as society.
When are you people going to stop blaming the Tories for the mess we're in now? 11 years Labour have had to right the things they didn't like, but they haven't done so, they've been far too busy lining their pockets with taxpayers money, and trying to force their warped perception of society on us all!
Gordon Brown is an idiot! His inability to run the exchequer in any kind of a responsible way, has failed miserably. If that wasn't bad enough, we end up having him foisted on us, not by the usual democratic channels, but by that lying, no good b*stard Blair handing him the most senior position in British politics as a favour!
Forget Reagan and Thatcher, the fault for this mess lies squarely on the shoulders of the Labour party.
well hubby has been told of a 3 day week at rocester.
to be honest, i'm worried sick as i only work part time, dreading xmas, dreading the bills, worried sick about the schooling fiasco & how it's effecting my children's education, trying to get my head round politics, but that's about it, how do i keep my sense of humour?
think positive! lol
a grumpy dangermouse 2day.
Dangermouse,
have a look at our jokes threads, might cheer you up a bit!
I know lot's of people who work at JCB and i am worried for them. It's come so soon after the reports of record profits, you'd have thought that they would have made some reserves for the hard times?
Oh dear I see you're off on one again Craig!
Actually I think many of the global economic problems are the result of the Bush administration. Bush has been quite clever and avoided having to make many of the difficult decisions and left them to whoever succeeds him.
There's one candidate I know you won't be very keen on Craig. The racist attacks McCain's supporters have been making on Obama are shameful.
Interesting Frank.
I believe it really started going wrong when the USA voted Jimmy Carter out(they didn't like his warnings - which are now coming true!), and voted in Ronald Reagan.
Of course he introduced 'Reaganomics', and Maggie Thatcher built on that with her 'Thatcherite moneterism ' policies. Then we had over 3,000,000 unemployed, and all she could say was that "if it wasn't hurting, it wasn't working!" (Tories !!).
Coming further up to date, Black Wednesday, under another Tory, the then Chancellor Norman Lamont, who nearly bankrupted the country in one day, and we've been struggling to get right ever since.
Pictures of that day show a familiar figure in the background.
David Cameron - who was a paid advisor then...
Good standing for him to get elected in 2000!!! and now the Tory Leader.
Gordon Brown, best chancellor we've ever had, now the PM.
I know who I would prefer to be in charge.
Oh, and by the way - tory is an old word for thief, usually horse thief....
Craig, I see your going off your trolley again.
It was Thatcher who gave us cheap credit and debt, sold off electric and gas and then shut the pits.
Today we have a credit crunch, high gas and electric and no independent energy supply.
The Tories were ejected last Century and now, capitalism (as they prefer it) is now dead.
Who rescued the Country? Labour via the Nationalisation methods that Thatcher killed off.
By the way, Craig Gordon should have been voted in by our electoral college system with one member one vote.
MPs in Parliament voted by so many to be led by him that our vote was not needed. That has upset many members.
However, if we had been allowed a vote, we would have given it to Gordon.
Your 'facts' are now corrected.
Frank, what the hell are you talking about? The only place I'm off to is the kitchen, I need coffee if the calibre of the company is going to be you, St George, and Elsby.
Just had a look at the Labour party site. As I suspected, it is a place with more a-holes than a proctologists waiting room!lol
I'm going to start a book on how much you think Cllr Jean Edwards can run up in taxi fare claims! From what I here, it would be cheaper to issue her with a car!
Craig you could also start a book on how many people the Potteries Alliance Party can fit in a phone box for their meetings.
At the moment its not too crowded as theres only Kent Baggaley and his mate Knight!
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