Menorgurgulating; Brain Boil By Way of a Menoloop

I wrote the following post earlier in the afternoon, yesterday. Later, the news came through that seemed to make it almost mean... but I let it stand because there is no doubt that the passing of ERII will add to the unsettled feeling around us. While not a royalist, I always held her majesty in esteem and respect for all the reasons that are being spouted in the media. The stability of her presence will be deeply missed.

I confess I have been a bit preoccupied with the state of affairs here in the UK this past couple of weeks. I despair if truth be told. For many observers from anywhere other than the British Isles, it might all read a bit comic book, Greek tragedy, French farce... and you wouldn't be wrong. 

The biggest issue is our cost of living challenge. Yes, many places in the world are facing inflation and fuel/energy concerns. It does seem, however, that the UK is particularly badly off. In case anyone is in any doubt, until announcements made in parliament yesterday, on October 1st, our energy bills were set to rise by some 80% on the already imposed 50-ish% that occurred in March. That was mooted to be followed, in January, with yet a further big hike. Yesterday, the new PM put a renewed 'cap' on the cost of energy for two years, which will mean instead of the projected £5750 annual outgoing (on average use), it will be kept to £2500. Those who are low-end users, like me, would never reach that average anyway, and obviously, there will be some households that use quite a bit more, but the point is that the cost per kWh is going to be stable in a way that it wasn't until yesterday and had us all planning to burn our furniture to keep warm this winter.

For low-enders, the huge bugbear has been the standing charges - the cost of having a physical connection and the meters that tell you how much you used. In February, historically the most expensive month being the coldest and meanest, my bill was appx £43. By April, when spring arrived, and the heating was off, my monthly bill shot up to nearly £60. I was using less light and gas, but the standing charge had all but doubled per diem. If Ms Truss had not made that announcement yesterday, then in October, I was looking at paying upwards of £70 even before adding on the actual usage costs. My pension is such that after paying insurance, television fees (remember that's compulsory here in the UK), phone/wifi and council tax/rates, leaving enough to hopefully cover the power utilities would have meant keeping my food/ancillaries budget to about £30/wk. Manageable, but then again, given how the price of food is rising... the one bright spot is that there has been an added benefit to all households of £66/month being provided to offset the costs. For low-enders, that will be a significant boost. I do welcome that assistance. In the spirit of transparency, it should also be said that I am blessed to have a fully paid-for home; with no mortgage or other loans. But my pension is not changing with the cost of living. 

This is not to plead poor. It is to demonstrate that many thousands here, who in any other country might be considered really quite well off, are, by comparison within this economic centre, at real risk of fiscal difficulty. Hardship is relative to the society in which one lives.

Yesterday's move by the incoming handlers of the government was undoubtedly welcome but still has to be fine-tuned, and much more will need to be sorted for the long-term. This is not a long-term thinking group of well-off toffs. In fact, they are backwards thinking - the spectre of fracking has raised its hideous head once more. So while unquestionably relieved that there is an eleventh-hour move to bring some relief on energy costs, I find myself holding my breath as to what else has to suffer to cover it.

So yeah. A bit of a brain boiler of a post today, but it would otherwise have been another cop-out. Not my style, really. Challenges are there to be met!

Thanks for listening.