Why is the UK struggling more than other countries?

[Eleftheros]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Renewables are a source of energy independent of foreign interference, unless of course some James Bond type baddie manages to switch off the sim, the wind and the tides.

Or blocks the export of rare raw minerals such as neodymium, germanium, gallium, cobalt and others which are crucial to the manufacture of wind turbines, storage batteries and solar panels. The market for these materials is largely controlled by China, which is as much foreign interference as you could ask for.

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I watched a video of a Swedish company that machines connecting rods for engines and has sales world-wide. They source their forgings from UK, no one in Sweden can supply them.

Not to worry.

 

Swedish PEVs out number petrol autos and Sweden joins leader Norway and runner-up Iceland. Within 12 to 18 months Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are trending the same result - out number petrol autos; Germany same by mid-2023.

 

In 2022 petrol autos held about 41% and total PEVs about 22% of UK passenger registrations. I expect EVs to surpass petrol car registrations.

 

PEVs don't use connecting rods not to mention most all of an ICE.

 

Both your Swedish and UK companies are heading towards obsolescence. So not to worry about connecting supplies.

[Seppius]

Why pick only on the UK?

 

Hard times for most countries, not just the UK, they are just ahead of the curve from the EU, always have been

 

"The German government and leading economists say that Germany is heading toward a recession. What constitutes a downturn and what does that entail?"

 

https://www.dw.com/en/economy-recession-rears-its-ugly-head-in-germany/a-63444401

 

"Italy forecasts recession as Meloni seeks economy minister"

 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/italys-economy-shrink-3-straight-quarters-treasury-says-2022-10-03/

 

"Netherlands in a "mild" economic recession: ING economist"

 

https://nltimes.nl/2022/10/26/netherlands-mild-economic-recession-ing-economist

 

"Eurozone heading to a recession at the end of this year, Brussels says"

 

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/11/11/europes-record-inflation-will-peak-at-year-end-but-remain-high-in-2023-says-brussels

 

"US is headed for a recession, says head of JP Morgan Chase bank: ‘This is serious£’

 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/10/us-economy-recession-jamie-dimon

 

 

 

 

[chilly07]

BREXIT!

All the outcomes predicted by Tory Brexiteers have failed to materialise!

All the time and money spent on getting in then getting out wasted!

Cameron May Johnson Truss and now Sunak all guilty of putting ambition before country.

They didn't even have the nouse to stay in the free trade zone to avoid the NI problem and dissolution of the 'United' Kingdom!

We need Starmer to commit to an early referendum on rejoining!

[Mac Mickmanus]

2 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

BREXIT!

All the outcomes predicted by Tory Brexiteers have failed to materialise!

All the time and money spent on getting in then getting out wasted!

Cameron May Johnson Truss and now Sunak all guilty of putting ambition before country.

They didn't even have the nouse to stay in the free trade zone to avoid the NI problem and dissolution of the 'United' Kingdom!

We need Starmer to commit to an early referendum on rejoining!

Starmer has already stated that his Labour Party has no intention of re-joining the E.U , as many Labour supporters voted for Brexit  

[Scott Tracy]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Renewables are a source of energy independent of foreign interference, unless of course some James Bond type baddie manages to switch off the sim, the wind and the tides.

Currently, the price of electricity is the price of electricity, whether generated by renewables or fossil fuels. Perhaps If that issue can be addressed?

[Chomper Higgot]

39 minutes ago, Eleftheros said:

Or blocks the export of rare raw minerals such as neodymium, germanium, gallium, cobalt and others which are crucial to the manufacture of wind turbines, storage batteries and solar panels. The market for these materials is largely controlled by China, which is as much foreign interference as you could ask for.

Let’s see if you can work this out.

 

Oil, arriving from Russia, Saudi Arabia and a few other equally unpleasant places can be switched off overnight.

 

Result, immediate energy crisis.

 

Rare Earth minerals already installed in already commissioned generating equipment and power storage systems can’t be switched off overnight.

And China isn’t going to control Rare Earth supplies for much longer:

 

https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/sectors/extractive-industries/china-rare-earths-dominance-mining

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

Funny you mention that. Why is he moaning? Because he wants more migrant labour for his shops. Mass immigration was said to be the biggest single issue in the Brexit debate. 

Nevertheless this Brexit champion is now suddenly aware that Brexit is damaging his business, like it’s damaging many other UK businesses.

 

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Twelve years of Tory Government and you have the audacity to blame ‘woke people’.

I despise the Tories, but I can't really blame them for problems all the western countries have.

[BritManToo]

29 minutes ago, Scott Tracy said:

Currently, the price of electricity is the price of electricity, whether generated by renewables or fossil fuels. Perhaps If that issue can be addressed?

Can't say I care how much electricity costs, I make my own.

[Cake Monster]

8 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Cutting the nation off from the worlds largest largest tariff free market hasn’t helped.

 

The biggest mistake ever made in history was to go for " Brexit '

500+ Million potential customers just cut off because of a emotional Nation whipped up into a froth instead of a clinical and rational decision being taken to remain

There should be a reversal referendum

[superal]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It is slowly sinking in, but how a leader of a major retailer couldn’t see the consequences of the madness he backed is a mystery:

 

https://www.business-live.co.uk/retail-consumer/brexit-backer-next-boss-lord-25482506

Your opinion is flawed because many of the jobs , that employed foreign workers including the 

"Next " outlets , were being paid far below the minimum wage . This also applied to agricultural workers . Thus there were no British takers for those jobs .  

I will admit there is a need for selective foreign workers as required by way of official entry and not the back door . Nurses and agricultural workers for sure . However , this month there are to date

1.9 million unemployed who should be vetted more thoroughly for alternative employment . BTW the unemployment rate is 3.5% which is the lowest since 1974 . 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I despise the Tories, but I can't really blame them for problems all the western countries have.

You don’t have to, just hold them accountable for the problems they created and/or made worse.

[Tropposurfer]

Anything to do with the myth of trickle down economics working? I have some sort of gut-feeling the world needs to shift its way of doing business, and that we are being offered an opportunity to make a series of fundamental paradigm shifts.

Consumerism economic health measured on unending growth rather than sustainability are consuming the very ground beneath our feet, the water we drink, and the air we breath.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Tropposurfer

[Eleftheros]

Even worse than China's ongoing domination of rare earth production is the damaging naivety of the Green activist types with their imbecile notion that wind energy and solar are magically "free" forever.

 

There is no such thing as free energy and the quicker the Green types understand that, the sooner they will have something relevant to say about energy transition instead of them endlessly repeating their slogans which amounts to nothing more substantial than "Hello clouds, hello sky!".

The UK government's absurd adoption of Green fantasy energy policies is making the country's economic problems worse than they need be while doing nothing whatever to "save the planet", as they would have us believe.

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the replies have been removed.

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, superal said:

Your opinion is flawed because many of the jobs , that employed foreign workers including the 

"Next " outlets , were being paid far below the minimum wage . This also applied to agricultural workers . Thus there were no British takers for those jobs .  

I will admit there is a need for selective foreign workers as required by way of official entry and not the back door . Nurses and agricultural workers for sure . However , this month there are to date

1.9 million unemployed who should be vetted more thoroughly for alternative employment . BTW the unemployment rate is 3.5% which is the lowest since 1974 . 

Where is your evidence that Next, or any other business for that matter, were paying immigrant workers far below minimum wage?

 

The basis of calculating unemployment has changed multiple times since 1974, always to reduce the reported number.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Chomper Higgot

[Mac Mickmanus]

2 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

The biggest mistake ever made in history was to go for " Brexit '

500+ Million potential customers just cut off because of a emotional Nation whipped up into a froth instead of a clinical and rational decision being taken to remain

There should be a reversal referendum

Although the U.K can still sell items to those 500+ million people , there just now needs to be more paperwork and taxes .

   The U.K is actually doing better than some other E.U Countries , so Brexit isn't the reason for the current issues  .

   Remainers are just using the current issues to try to get the UK to re-join again 

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, Scott Tracy said:

Currently, the price of electricity is the price of electricity, whether generated by renewables or fossil fuels. Perhaps If that issue can be addressed?

Not entirely. The price of offshore wind energy is capped. That was part of the deal with the government when leases were granted. If the price exceeds the caps, that portion is refunded.

[Andrew65]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Nevertheless this Brexit champion is now suddenly aware that Brexit is damaging his business, like it’s damaging many other UK businesses.

 

Earlier this year there was a big to-do in the UK with lorry drivers rightly complaining about the conditions they have to endure in their job. The British gvts solution to this wasn't to look for ways to improve those conditions, it was just to make it so that lots of mainly Eastern European lorry drivers can work in the UK. Part of why many are against immigration. 

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, Eleftheros said:

Even worse than China's ongoing domination of rare earth production is the damaging naivety of the Green activist types with their imbecile notion that wind energy and solar are magically "free" forever.

 

There is no such thing as free energy and the quicker the Green types understand that, the sooner they will have something relevant to say about energy transition instead of them endlessly repeating their slogans which amounts to nothing more substantial than "Hello clouds, hello sky!".

The UK government's absurd adoption of Green fantasy energy policies is making the country's economic problems worse than they need be while doing nothing whatever to "save the planet", as they would have us believe.

Over and over again I see debunkers of wind and solar confuse fuels with infrastructure. Unlike fossil fuels, the fuels for wind and solar power are free forever and it's not magic. The infrastructure is another issue.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, Andrew65 said:

Earlier this year there was a big to-do in the UK with lorry drivers rightly complaining about the conditions they have to endure in their job. The British gvts solution to this wasn't to look for ways to improve those conditions, it was just to make it so that lots of mainly Eastern European lorry drivers can work in the UK. Part of why many are against immigration. 

Links please.

[Chomper Higgot]

5 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Although the U.K can still sell items to those 500+ million people , there just now needs to be more paperwork and taxes .

   The U.K is actually doing better than some other E.U Countries , so Brexit isn't the reason for the current issues  .

   Remainers are just using the current issues to try to get the UK to re-join again 

Please be more precise.

 

Which EU countries is the UK doing better than and on what basis is the UK doing better?

 

 

[Andrew65]

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Links please.

https://trans.info/en/uk-government-confirms-trucker-visa-scheme-as-desperate-letter-is-sent-to-former-hgv-drivers-255930

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/08/23/truc-a23.html

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

https://trans.info/en/uk-government-confirms-trucker-visa-scheme-as-desperate-letter-is-sent-to-former-hgv-drivers-255930

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/08/23/truc-a23.html

First of all it's a plan formulated by the government.  Did it succeed? And 5000 foreign drivers is not much. And did you read this from that report:  "On top of the visa scheme, the government has also announced more funding for training and sent a desperate-looking letter pleading for ex-HGV drivers to return to their former profession."

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, placeholder said:

First of all it's a plan formulated by the government.  Did it succeed? And 5000 foreign drivers is not much. And did you read this from that report:  "On top of the visa scheme, the government has also announced more funding for training and sent a desperate-looking letter pleading for ex-HGV drivers to return to their former profession."

The gvt has announced more funding for training. Nothing about providing facilities (service areas) for drivers that don't cost £30 a night, or anything to make it a more attractive job to be in. I doubt very much that many drivers signed-up to return to a job where you always need to make sure you have a carrier bag and toilet paper with you, and the hours can be terrible. Treated like dirt.

Tory Britain.

[Eleftheros]

28 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Over and over again I see debunkers of wind and solar confuse fuels with infrastructure. Unlike fossil fuels, the fuels for wind and solar power are free forever and it's not magic. The infrastructure is another issue.

Generally I see supporters of wind and solar completely ignore the infrastructure issue and claim that solar and wind energy is "free" to produce, which is far from being the case.

 

The dumber activists also claim that these forms of energy provide "energy independence", ignoring the fact that the infrastructure has to be purchased from overseas sources, which at the moment, largely means China.

 

Unfortunately, the UK government seems to support these lunatic ideas, and has a child-like faith that the country can achieve 'Net Zero' with minimal cost and disruption.

[placeholder]

Just now, Eleftheros said:

Generally I see supporters of wind and solar completely ignore the infrastructure issue and claim that solar and wind energy is "free" to produce, which is far from being the case.

 

The dumber activists also claim that these forms of energy provide "energy independence", ignoring the fact that the infrastructure has to be purchased from overseas sources, which at the moment, largely means China.

 

Unfortunately, the UK government seems to support these lunatic ideas, and has a child-like faith that the country can achieve 'Net Zero' with minimal cost and disruption.

Generally what I see from debunkers like yourself is someone living 10 years in the past. The cost of solar and wind energy has plummeted. Even before the recent spike in prices of fossil fuels, back in the day when coal and gas prices were depressed, solar and wind had made coal uneconomical and was doing the same to gas peaker plants. In fact, the Levelized Cost of Energy is cheaper for a new solar plant than it is to run an existing coal powered plant. And now cheap storage methods are coming online which means further reductions in the cost of solar and wind. Offshore wind power is actually lessening the rise in utility bills in the UK.

[Sparktrader]

9 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Brilliant, today's problems are because of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and it is all the past stuff now biting them on the bum.  You do realise the Tories have been in power for 12 years now??  No blame there at all??  Nah, it's all because of stuff that happened before that that they haven't worked out how to fix. Right.  Bad Labour.

Economic decisions can last 5 to 10 years. All duds since Margie.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Sparktrader

[placeholder]

Just now, Sparktrader said:

Economis decisions last 5 to 10 times.

This reads like English but...