Ed Milliband... what he can & cant do.

ihateyes

So Ed has ignited the debate, one the country needs.

A lot of people have called for renationalisation of the utilites.

This cant be done due to EU directives and anti competition laws.

Freezing the price is only a short term fix, one the companies will get round, by either upping the pricing before or after, or attacking their staff pay/pensions/jobs.

The only real thing Ed can do is take the companies head on. One he wont do.

If your serious Ed.... if you win the GE.

Set up a new publicly owned energy company ( just like EDF - owned by the French Government ). Tackle the problem head on.

Cost will be an issue, but so would renationalisation.

I believe there is an ongoing issue in germany regarding renationalisation of the Energy Grid, but in this instance i believe the National Grid is selling to the government.

This idea is the only solution, and this is what people need to lobby labour to do.

Labour cant impose price freezes on an industry they dont own.

MillicentBystander

If we can seriously consider spending £80 billion+ on a white elephant that gets you to Birmingham from London a few minutes quicker, surely the cost of buying these b******* out is such an insignificant sum? I mean, they are forever telling us what a difficult, relatively unprofitable industry it is, surely they will only be too willing to be compulsorily purchased?

The EU? Ignore them. What are they going to do, expel a country whose contribution props up the lame ducks who are in 'the club'?

PS Love him or loathe him (I do neither although recognise the Labour party very much chose the wrong brother) what Milliband HAS done is put a very bright spotlight on this most hated of industries (and caused the Tories to actually leap into 'action' lol). And that can only be a good thing.

ihateyes

MillicentBystander wrote: »

If we can seriously consider spending £80 billion+ on a white elephant that gets you to Birmingham from London a few minutes quicker, surely the cost of buying these b******* out is such an insignificant sum? I mean, they are forever telling us what a difficult, relatively unprofitable industry it is, surely they will only be too willing to be compulsorily purchased?

The EU? Ignore them. What are they going to do, expel a country whose contribution props up the lame ducks who are in 'the club'?

PS Love him or loathe him (I do neither although recognise the Labour party very much chose the wrong brother) what Milliband HAS done is put a very bright spotlight on this most hated of industries (and caused the Tories to actually leap into 'action' lol). And that can only be a good thing.

HS2 wont affect the whole country.
Setting up a new Publically owned Energy company, could benefit everyone.

yangptangkipperbang

MillicentBystander wrote: »

what Milliband HAS done is put a very bright spotlight on this most hated of industries

"The most hated".............not really - not long ago it was the bankers who were the most hated, before that it was - guess who ? the politicians of course....................who are still at the trough. I read yesterday of one Tory MP who claimed over £5000 for his gas and electricity bills at his "second home".
Glad he wasn't claiming for his "main" residence - but being an honest politician he wouldn't do anything like that - would he ? ;)

MillicentBystander

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

"The most hated".............not really - not long ago it was the bankers who were the most hated, before that it was - guess who ? the politicians of course....................who are still at the trough. I read yesterday of one Tory MP who claimed over £5000 for his gas and electricity bills at his "second home".
Glad he wasn't claiming for his "main" residence - but being an honest politician he wouldn't do anything like that - would he ? ;)

IIRC even at the height of the banking scandal, according to the Which survey that year the energy industry STILL got lower scores than the banking industry. And continues to be hated...

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/energy-sector-least-trusted-by-consumers-1-3170825

Now if only politics was considered an industry...:D

Biggles

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

"The most hated".............not really - not long ago it was the bankers who were the most hated, before that it was - guess who ? the politicians of course....................who are still at the trough.

It's whoever the media are picking on as a device to sell papers at the moment. The bankers haven't got better and the energy cos haven't got worse, the media have just got bored and found a new target. It's all very tedious.

tberry6686

If re-nationalised or a new government owned fuel supplier is such a good idea then can anyone explain why energy in this country is amongst the cheapest in Europe.

The only thing that can be guaranteed wit a publicly owned suplier is that it will be either the most expensive or be heavily subsidised by all taxpayers.

The days of cheap energy are over and the sooner people understand this the better.

ihateyes

tberry6686 wrote: »

If re-nationalised or a new government owned fuel supplier is such a good idea then can anyone explain why energy in this country is amongst the cheapest in Europe.

The only thing that can be guaranteed wit a publicly owned suplier is that it will be either the most expensive or be heavily subsidised by all taxpayers.

The days of cheap energy are over and the sooner people understand this the better.

To a degree your right.... and what needs to happen is media/government/energy companies need to educate people better, instead of the media and the government whipping up a frenzy.

MillicentBystander

tberry6686 wrote: »

If re-nationalised or a new government owned fuel supplier is such a good idea then can anyone explain why energy in this country is amongst the cheapest in Europe.

The only thing that can be guaranteed wit a publicly owned suplier is that it will be either the most expensive or be heavily subsidised by all taxpayers.

The days of cheap energy are over and the sooner people understand this the better.

Debunked by me here . You haven't responded.

tberry6686

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Debunked by me here . You haven't responded.

If you want to use that as a measure of cost then why stop at energy costs. Our supermarkets must also be the most expensive and phones and anything else you care to mention. So why single out energy ?

mailmannz

The first thing Ed the Clown needs to do is to apologise to this country for The Climate Change Bill that has lead directly to where we are today with energy!

Anyone who votes for this moron needs their heads examined!

Mailman