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Why can’t energy firms pick up the bill?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Demands grow for windfall tax as fuel companies rake in record profits

Socialist Worker | “British economy grinds to a halt” cried the headlines last weekend. Charles Bean, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, said the current economic downturn could “drag on for some considerable time” – especially since there always seemed to be “another grenade” waiting to explode in the financial markets.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed that things will improve,” Bean added. Most people might expect a little more reassurance than that. In the good times the bankers told us that the free market ruled. Now they admit that its workings are down to chance.

A recession will bring higher unemployment and further attempts by bosses to cut wages in order to maintain their profits. Meanwhile they are going full steam ahead with their own prices rises on everything from water to food to public transport.

Gas prices have doubled since 2000. Electricity has gone up by nearly two thirds over the same period. Every week new figures show price rises that will hit working people and the poor the hardest.

Around 80 Labour MPs have now signed a call for Gordon Brown to impose a windfall tax on the big energy and fuel companies. That is the very least he should do. These firms have been forcing up prices while still raking in huge profits.

A recent poll showed that 70 percent of people believed their household economic wellbeing had got worse over the past year. Only 5 percent said things had got better. Higher taxes on the corporations – including a windfall tax – would begin to redress this.

But there is little sign that Brown will take notice of the plea from his own party’s MPs. Nor is he likely to listen to campaigners, trade union leaders, local councillors and academics who have backed the call for a windfall tax.

The fact is that Brown is too frightened of upsetting big business and their friends in the media. In every policy area he has stuck closely to the path mapped out by Tony Blair – even though this has led to a collapse in Labour’s support.

Brown may pay the price for his refusal to help those who elected him. But we need to make sure it’s the big companies that pick up the bill – not the poorest and working people who are being expected to pay for this crisis.

£3 billion

the profits of energy suppliers, up from £557 million in 2003

100 percent

the level of gas price rises since 2000

6.8 million

households are in debt to their energy suppliers

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4 Responses to “Why can’t energy firms pick up the bill?”

frankie
Posted: Aug 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

The poor and elderly will starve or freeze - that’s what they want! The NWO determination to depopulate the World is here in GB now. Big business and big banks rule the planet and will do anything to secure their profits and the likes of Brown and Blair are in their pockets for their own gain. It is disgusting, sickening and inhumane.

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V
Posted: Aug 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm

As I recall, the truth movement have been warning of this precise strategy for some time.

Enjoy your starvation death and destruction.

My belly will be full.

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Mad Boffins Clone
Posted: Sep 16th, 2008 at 10:41 am

TO Stop being exploited over oil - read this:-

Coal is fossilised bio material, some oil is also the juice of that fossilised bio material, indeed you can make oil from coal easily.

But here is the information you need to know if you are not to be TAX raped and Buggered by the oil Mafioso.

At school and college and indeed University you are fed the 17th century Hypothesis that oil is solely a fossil fuel just like coal.

Well, this is for the most part untrue, but is true in part (not a total lie but enough of a lie so you can be exploited).

Here is a more accurate description of were most of the oil originates:

Firstly you need a 101 in Anaerobic bacteria.

There are micro organisms which when given ideal conditions multiply very quickly. Some micro organisms can double in number every 10 minutes provided they have ideal conditions.

Some can consume plastic, rocks, rubbish wast, you name it, they can use it as a nutrient resource.

One Algae in particular is 2/3 vegetable oil.

Capped supposedly dry wells were found to regain pressure in the 70s, it was later understood why, since then the oil companies and governments have decided not to bring the rest of us in on this new found discovery.

Anaerobic bacteria which live in the ground absorbing nutrients from the rocks, enjoying warm conditions from the gravity induced thermal vents and obtain water and other essential nutrients from volcanic activity and surface precipitation - produce oil.

Oil will never run out so long as you allow the community of oil producing micro-organisms the essential nutrients and conditions they need to thrive.

- just thought you should know so you can no longer be exploited.

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Ben Gaule
Posted: Oct 30th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Now is the time to nationalise all major industries and banks. This would give the goverment the money needed in the long term to pay for the present economic crisis. Bills to households could be halved and still the goverment would make a massive profit. Why is there such a loathing in this country to nationalisation? The only people who benefit are the ‘fat cats’

Ben Gaule

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