Agenda 2019

  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/20/choice-cumbria-nuclear-dump-mistake-environment-agency  One million cubic meters of waste near Sellafield are housed at a site that was a mistake Sellafield nuclear facility I have never been a supporter of the use of nuclear as an option for producing energy. Amongst the reasons for my opposition to nuclear generated power, is a very simple question to which the pro nuclear lobby have never been able to provide an acceptable answer. The question is and will always be, "What do you do with the waste?"  The responses trotted out over the years, range between the bizarre and ludicrous (put it in a rocket and fire it into the sun or fill containers with it and dump it in the oceans, amongst the more perverse examples) to the now accepted international practices of land fill and dumping within the existing environment.  The usual criticisms of these suggestions I have documented elsewhere over the year...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prince-charles-is-turning-65--and-still-awaiting-his-key-job-is-he-a-guiding-light-for-the-postretirement-work-era-8937573.html  Prince Charles at 65: A portfolio of jobs and no plans to retire, so he's just like the rest of us The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall   The headline reads: " .....so he's just like the rest of us". Yes of course he is. He and "Parker Bowles" regularly visit the Kensington Foodbank to get their weekly rations and they frequently switch energy suppliers in the naive belief that they might get a better deal from another cartel member. Every 4 weeks, when his pension is paid into which ever bank account he has nominated for that purpose, he takes his "Casio" calculator and works out to the nearest penny, whether he and the Mrs. can afford to have that pound of meat for a liver and bacon treat they have been thinking about, or whether that spar...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/after-power-furore-now-focus-turns-to-aboveinflation-rises-in-water-bills-8918351.html After power furore, now focus turns to above-inflation rises in water bills The water companies Another of the privatised industries which, according to the pro privatisation propaganda from government at the time "will drive prices down and increase efficiency through increased competition". That fairy tale has been used and repeated frequently over the years for the justification of privatising, not only water but also energy and most recently for Royal Mail. It now seems that the criticisms of privatisation made at the time and the predictions of profiteering and general misconduct by the new companies were and are, more than justified. The wheels are falling off the privatisation wagon and the government are unwilling or perhaps unable to ...

  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/30/david-cameron-inquiry-competition-energy-industry   Cameron calls for immediate inquiry into competition in energy industry David Cameron at PMQ's   Inquiries, reports, debates, select committees etc etc.More prevarication and side stepping of the real issues, by intent and design rather than accident. There is a principle in English law of "res ipsa loquitur" which, when used in the context of the current situation, could be interpreted as an argument for "cut the hot air, rhetoric and the endless chatter, and do what everyone, (except the energy companies and their political co conspirators) knows to be the only solution". Either the energy companies must be controlled by new, effective and legally enforceable legislation, or they must be returned to public ownership. There is no other option so there is nothing to discuss.

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/all-in-it-together-energy-chiefs-feel-heat-from-mps-8911466.html Representatives from Big Six accused of behaving like a 'chorus line acting in concert' as they attempt to justify recent price hikes Energy company bosses at Commons select Committee   The energy companies treat their customers with contempt because nobody is prepared, or able, to stop them. Consumers are unable to take on the companies because energy is a basic need and no matter how often people "switch" suppliers, the end result is ever increasing domestic charges. The political parties are unwilling to legislate to prevent such excesses and in many cases are more likely to actively support the energy companies position in the name of "free markets and competition". The notion of "self regulation" in the supply of energy would be as effective in this market as it has been in any of the other areas where the fox ha...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/17/british-gas-_n_4113572.html?utm_hp_ref=uk British Gas Hikes Prices Up By More Than 10%, Adding £120 To Annual Bills This morning, British Gas crawl out of the woodwork, and announce price hikes of 10% for gas and 9% for electricity. The increases are effective from the 23rd of next month The second of the cartel members leap onto the wagon with their parasitic greed prompted justifications for stealing even more money from their customers. The government of course says nothing and does nothing. How much longer will public tolerance put up with these thieves taking money from families, and governments so in the pockets of the industry that they allow such outrageous behaviour to go unchallenged?

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/10/ed-miliband-sse-energy-price-rise   Energy price rise sparks new political row over power bills   Another member of the energy companies cartel, announces price increases way above the level of inflation, which will undoubtedly increase their already obscene levels of profits at the expense of the consumer. This news comes just weeks after a report in the “Guardian” warning consumers that “Energy firms expected to increase prices by 8%” and reported on this Blog on September 21st under the heading of “The energy suppliers cartel prepare to announce big price increases, again.” Even more evidence, if more were actually needed, that these predominately, but not exclusively, foreign owned energy companies, selling the wholesale energy product to themselves through a myriad of murky subsidiaries and associated companies, (each making substantial profits during the process), are out...

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/20/energy-firms-increase-prices Energy firms expected to increase prices by 8%     The energy company cartel preparing everyone for their usual autumn round of extortionate price increases. This time they find another "reason" for ripping off the consumer by blaming "increased cost of environmental levies" as justification. Not content with "selling" energy to themselves through a myriad of different companies with the same ultimate "owner" (thinking that we have not noticed) and then blaming their suppliers for price increases, they now resort to a nebulous concept of environmental levies to defend their avarice. Privatisation may have been good for the companies,and ultimately for the institutional shareholders, but for the consumer it has been an unmitigated disaster. There is little point in following the advice of government ministers (who have their own agenda on this issue) and ...