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News and Comment September 2022

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24 September - Going for broke

Crisis meetingOn days with no Bexley Council news there have been several BiB references to my concern over the effect of inflation and energy costs on the poorest members of society. I will get by but I am watching the pennies.

Fiddling around on the edge of silly economies I swapped two miniature 15 watt tungsten bulbs with 1·5 watt LEDs. They give just about enough light to read by but they are never going to save money despite being inexpensive. That is because they were only available in packs of ten.

Like all this business of not leaving things running on standby it is all relatively ineffective when it comes to saving money. The only way of making real economies will be not turning your heating on and be careful when using the oven or anything that heats water.

Whilst yesterday’s budget was welcome in several ways it did nothing to curb inflation. Energy costs, even after the new cap, will go up next month and be 75% above the cost last Winter for the average user.

Without a reduction in fuel taxes inflation will continue to increase especially so if the bank rate goes up further as it will.

Yesterday I needed some penny washers, so called because they are the size of an old penny and dashed to my least favourite DIY store because it is nearest. It would have been cheaper to drill holes in 50 pence pieces. B&Q always were rip off merchants to be avoided whenever possible but that was taking the biscuit.

Much the same is true of every little thing that needs to be bought.

Next Wednesday there is to be a meeting on the subject in the Abbey Wood Community Centre. When I found the advert on Facebook I noted that it had been organised by a socialist group but failed to note exactly who. As is the way with Facebook, there is no way the advert can be found again.

I plan to go to hear what the socialists have to say. I hope it is something more intelligent than the left wing doom-mongering trotted out by various radio commentators today.

They don’t like tax levels returned to levels last seen under Tony Blair and would prefer banks to hang on to their money and be taxed at 19% than their employees be given bonuses and be taxed at 40%.

The budget may be a gamble but it is pointless to carry on with the same old policies which demonstrably don’t work. In the 1970s I was asked to manage the least productive telephone exchange in London and close it down. I threw the management rule book out of the window and went in a different direction. In two and a half years it became the most productive handling more calls than ever. Technical changes not budgetary but I will hope that similar principles apply. Don’t press on with procedures that have failed in the past.

It still got closed down but that was because it was more than 50 years old and the equipment was totally worn out, not to mention that the building could be sold and turned into a posh hotel.

 

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