Npower is to increase its electricity and gas prices for 1.4 million customers
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One
of the greatest lies ever foisted upon the British people was that
repeated almost daily during the 1980's by the Thatcher government.
The deception, which gave proof to the theory that if you tell a big
enough lie and repeat it often, people will accept it as truth. The
great falsehood filling the media, being repeated at every
opportunity by conservative politicians and being driven by those
with their own, not very well hidden agendas, met the conditions for
forceful propaganda, being short and easily remembered.
"Privatisation introduces competition, drives down costs and
improves services". The history of privatised industries since
1980 is littered with examples evidencing that far from being the
great blessing for the consumers as promised by the hype spewed out
at the time, the customers and the workers employed in such
industries, have invariably been given a very raw deal for the
benefit of the company and its shareholders. Prices have risen
significantly, usually well above the rate of inflation, and the
number of people working for these companies have been substantially
reduced. At the same time, the profits accruing to the businesses
have continued to rise year on year as the services provided have
deteriorated. The link between rising prices, reduced staff levels
and increasing profits, is not a coincidence.
The
latest "twist" in the annual round of price hikes, is that
revealed
yesterday (3rd February 2017) by
Npower,
a subsidiary company of RWE
AG, a German electric utilities company based in Essen, announcing
a 15% increase in electricity prices and a 4.8% rise for gas,
earning the company an additional £152 million per year,
and
raising
the average annual household bill by £109 to £1,187 a year.
The industry "watchdog" OFGEM
has called on Npower to “justify the decision”, demonstrating yet
again that the "watchdog" for this and other privatised
industries have a whining, whimpering bark but few (if any) teeth
with which to frighten those responsible for the profiteering.
Three
of the other big suppliers, British Gas, E.on and SSE have their
prices fixed until the end of March, but will no doubt announce price
hikes shortly
thereafter
in April, followed by the other energy suppliers who have not already
put forward their own price increases by that time. This regular
procession of "follow my leader", makes a mockery of the
advice usually spewed out to the effect that consumers should switch
suppliers for the best deals. When all suppliers are profiteering
with cartel like price increases, the only winners in this charade
are the energy companies, invariably foreign owned, themselves who
are raking in the excess cash.
The
latest price increases, and those certainly to follow, will only
increase the incidence of fuel poverty in this country as more people
fall into the trap created by profiteering companies and a government
which shows
a callous disregard for the hardship which they have created. Those
least able to afford the higher charges, the sick, those on benefits,
our pensioners, the disabled
will be faced with the choice which has become even more prevalent in
society today. Heat or eat, is not a catch phrase to make a point. It
is the reality facing more and more people in our country today and
is a direct consequence of the lies spread by government of the
1980's.
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