Red Ed

By the slogan and the backdrop imagary the Labour Praty and Red Ed certainly seem to be going big for BT.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19815044

Though as the blue in the flag is a bit peelie-wally against a big and bold red St Georges cross maybe they are anticipating a fading link of blue with red. And as for the slogan 'One Nation'. Which one? I am sure some Nats will be asking - ah they mean one nation for the rich and the poor do they - nothing to do with a United Nations of Scotland, England, NI and Wales then - or maybe... Hmmm :)
 
True colours (red) coming out. IMHO the politics of desperation. He needs to keep his job long enough to fight the next election and then he has to win the next election or either way, he is out of a job. Only a few weeks ago, they were talking about kicking him out because no-one had heard from Labour over the summer. All he can do is go for headline grabbing flaky policies. All we can hope for is that the electorate doesn't fall for it.
 
I think he will be gone in the summer which is a shame as he is basically unelectable.
 
murphthemog said:
Nice of him to wipe nearly a billion quid off the value of Centrica.
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That is only because the pundits must think Labour has a chance of winning the election.
Good marker.

I thought it quite a clever tactic.
Gas prices have increased by 37% in five years, they seem out of control in a recession.
The power companies must now gamble on a Tory/UKIP win or increase their prices considerably before the election.
 
Anyone who stabs a family member in the back to get a job is not worth the time of day if you ask me.
 
Doon frae Troon said:
That is only because the pundits must think Labour has a chance of winning the election.
Good marker.

I thought it quite a clever tactic.
Gas prices have increased by 37% in five years, they seem out of control in a recession.
The power companies must now gamble on a Tory/UKIP win or increase their prices considerably before the election.
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Alternatively we could all contact our energy suppliers now and freeze our prices until 2017. Not entirely sure what EM is playing at with this one......
 
Red Ed? If only.

Labour and the Tories are now almost indistinguishable, apart from a few old union boys on one and a few rabid UKIP types in the other. Most of them are professional politicians with a law or PPS degree, time as a special adviser or lobbyist and then parachuted into a safe seat. Almost all of them have no ideological basis, and will follow whatever path which takes them up the greasy pole until they can leave politics to a fat directorship which they have fed previously.

On the energy prices question, of course the market is rigged. So too are markets elsewhere, but the Labour lot know now that they have to row back from the market frenzy of Blair and Brown. Peter Mandleson's criticism of Ed is exactly what he wanted.

Labour don't give a toss about the working classes. This is naked political pandering. Likewise Clegg's school meals idea. Expect a lot more of it before the next election.
 
FairwayDodger said:
Alternatively we could all contact our energy suppliers now and freeze our prices until 2017. Not entirely sure what EM is playing at with this one......
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And so we have the sight and sound of ther major power suppliers up in arms and threatening us with power cuts and refusing to build power stations and increase capacity - yes they are threatening the country with power cuts and power starvation and so embarking on a path of blackmailing us with the intent of determining - not simply influencing - government policy. I say we call the bluff of these companies. How very dare they. Who do they think they are - the irreplacable and to be treated with kid gloves as they are so crucial to the future of the country - the Bankers?
 
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Ethan said:
Red Ed? If only.

Labour and the Tories are now almost indistinguishable, apart from a few old union boys on one and a few rabid UKIP types in the other. Most of them are professional politicians with a law or PPS degree, time as a special adviser or lobbyist and then parachuted into a safe seat. Almost all of them have no ideological basis, and will follow whatever path which takes them up the greasy pole until they can leave politics to a fat directorship which they have fed previously.

On the energy prices question, of course the market is rigged. So too are markets elsewhere, but the Labour lot know now that they have to row back from the market frenzy of Blair and Brown. Peter Mandleson's criticism of Ed is exactly what he wanted.

Labour don't give a toss about the working classes. This is naked political pandering. Likewise Clegg's school meals idea. Expect a lot more of it before the next election.
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Is there such a thing as a working class anymore? I would suggest not! and as such the labour party have no roots. This makes them use these popularist sound bites that hopefully will appeal to someone out there.
 
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SwingsitlikeHogan said:
And so we have the sight and sound of ther major power suppliers up in arms and threatening us with power cuts and refusing to build power stations and increase capacity - yes they are threatening the country with power cuts and power starvation and so embarking on a path of blackmailing us with the intent of determining - not simply influencing - government policy. I say we call the bluff of these companies. How very dare they. Who do they think they are - the irreplacable and to be treated with kid gloves as they are so crucial to the future of the country - the Bankers?
Click to expand...
The thing is Hogan, it is not the power companies that are making this government policy. This is EM saying this would be his policy. That if they were elected, they would legislate - that means make it illegal - for the power companies to raise their prices for 20 months, whatever happens. So what happens if the wholesale price actually does go through the roof? What if the company you work for was told that there was even a risk they wouldn't be allowed to make a profit for 20 months? They would stop trading. Go where they can trade succesfully. Go where they can invest in their infrastructure -as the government is insisting they do. In extreme cases, no power companies = no power. Less power available at a price the company can sell with a margin = less power supplied = power cuts. And what happens after the 20 months? The market is reset, he says. So, everybody's prices just miraculously drop? Or do the power companies hike their prices again to make up for any shortfall over the previous 20 months?
I am as hopping mad about power prices as the next man, but this is headline grabbing and unworkable and is actually a bit of an insult to the intelligence of the electorate.
 
Sweep said:
The thing is Hogan, it is not the power companies that are making this government policy. This is EM saying this would be his policy. That if they were elected, they would legislate - that means make it illegal - for the power companies to raise their prices for 20 months, whatever happens. So what happens if the wholesale price actually does go through the roof? What if the company you work for was told that there was even a risk they wouldn't be allowed to make a profit for 20 months? They would stop trading. Go where they can trade succesfully. Go where they can invest in their infrastructure -as the government is insisting they do. In extreme cases, no power companies = no power. Less power available at a price the company can sell with a margin = less power supplied = power cuts. And what happens after the 20 months? The market is reset, he says. So, everybody's prices just miraculously drop? Or do the power companies hike their prices again to make up for any shortfall over the previous 20 months?
I am as hopping mad about power prices as the next man, but this is headline grabbing and unworkable and is actually a bit of an insult to the intelligence of the electorate.
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I'm not commenting on the rights or wrongs of the policy - just noting that the reaction of the power companies amounts to blackmailing the country. Along the lines of 'if you vote for that lot and they do what they say they'll do, then expect power cuts and we're not building more power stations'. That's blackmail. The power companies should have an absolute legal responsibility to build power stations to maintain and increase capacity as necessary and an ABSOLUTE responsibility to ensure there are no power cuts.

They are the power companies for THIS country - I don't care whether they make money or not - they are providing a public service and they should be FORCED to maintain that service come what may. They took on the business risk when they bought into power provision - and have made money out of it - now they can start making a loss - that's business.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
They took on the business risk when they bought into power provision - and have made money out of it - now they can start making a loss - that's business.
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That's business SILH? Really? I'm not sure I know of any business that makes a good profit for a years, and then goes, right, time to make a loss, just to even things up.

Business exists to make a profit. Why else would a business exist? What sort of loss should it make anyway, are we going to legislate that as well? If you tell any successful business that for the next 2 financial years, they MUST make a loss, then I would consider it more than reasonable for them to shut up shop. They act for the shareholders of the company. That's what happens when things are un-nationalised (is that a word?!).

Just my 2 cents.
 
CheltenhamHacker said:
That's business SILH? Really? I'm not sure I know of any business that makes a good profit for a years, and then goes, right, time to make a loss, just to even things up.

Business exists to make a profit. Why else would a business exist? What sort of loss should it make anyway, are we going to legislate that as well? If you tell any successful business that for the next 2 financial years, they MUST make a loss, then I would consider it more than reasonable for them to shut up shop. They act for the shareholders of the company. That's what happens when things are un-nationalised (is that a word?!).

Just my 2 cents.
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Yes - but these are no ordinary businesses providing a service or product to the market. These aren't businesses that provide to a market that can realistically choose to buy or not. These are businesses that provides a public service - businesses that have a captive market - a market that did not previously exist and that was created by the ideology of a political party.

The power companies bought into 'selling' to a captive market. A market that cannot turn it's back on the suppliers and walk away as they could in any normal market if they didn't like the product or the cost of it.

And yet the power companies talk as if they are living in a market economy. They only exist becuase of a political ideology - they bought into that - so they cannot abandon the market because of a change in the political climate that created their business. When they entered the UK power supply business they knew that their business lived in a political market and not a normal market - and they chose to accept that risk. But now the politcal environment changes - as they knew it could - tough - they rtook the risk.

They cannot just walk away from the market - and they cannot be allowed to blackmail this country - because by their threats that is precisely what they are doing. If in years to come there are power cuts due to supply issues then the bosses of the power companies should be charged with putting the safety and wellbeing of the country at risk - and that is called treason.
 
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