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[MSE Lawrence]

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's 'Political reporters: are you out of touch?' Blog.

Click reply to discuss below.

[RWGThomas]

I couldn't agree more. Reporters who use opportunities like this one, to simply show how clever they are at wrong footing the politician and get the “quote of the day” do the general public a great disservice. Why? Because:

• It let’s the politician off the hook, and allows them to change the agenda onto their own (as if they needed an invitation).
• It will get a proportion of the public even feeling sorry for the politician for being unfairly asked a question “out of context” (when they don’t deserve our sympathy)
• But most importantly, (as Martin points out) diverts the attention away from what is most important to the majority of us, pinning the government of the day down to articulate, in “clear terms” what they are ACTUALLY going to do to resolve that particular problem – in the case Energy Policy and Direct Debits (which in itself was a smokescreen compared to the fundamental issue of the Gov’t looking closely at the energy companies who are profiteering at the time of high fuel costs).
  
  

We need to watch the energy companies as closely as banks. It’s amazing how quick prices go up as fuel costs rise, sometimes even ahead of them, using the “futures market” as an excuse. But watch how slowly they come down in a falling market (using the same excuse) just as banks profiteer and are slow to adjust downward too.

[MiMo]

I was away at the time in France but on my return I heard that Mr. Brown had announced Free Insulation for pensioners. Clearly not true unless the government has changed the retirement age to 70 while we're not looking.

Even the 50% grant is only available through registered installers, not for DIY.

When are we going to see some real help in reducing energy consumption instead of all this double speak? The local council believed that a real change was about to happen but it was only resuming previous grants removed earlier in the year.

Why not apply ZERO or NEGATIVE VAT on insulation products. That might just encourage a few more people to insulate before they run into debt with the high energy prices we face when the cold sets in.

[trojjer]

That'd be funny...