Britain is a special case unfortunately. While energy costs going up will have an impact on everyones bottom line, if they are already so close to the edge then any price increase in anything essential is going to force people into those positions. People are already cutting all non-essentials, there is no more financial slack and it doesn't matter which essential thing is going up: housing, food or energy.
The only reason I would even suggest that higher energy prices are good for ecology would be that businesses started genuinely doing things to cut consumption, like turning off lit advertising and office lights.
That people are essentially priced out of living healthy is nothing to be celebrated of course, but there is a small silver lining and it should be discussed.
that people cant afford to live is a pretty massive failing of the UK and its policies. That’s been talked to death though.
Yeah, nice try.. inflation was a factor but as a dual national Brit/Swede it is at least twice as bad if not more in the UK.
The financial assistance offered to Swedes for the power consumption is contentious as most people didn’t expect anything to be paid back and it was taken from the energy companies profits too.
It’s not even remotely the same, even though the Murdoch media would like to make you think so.
You’re counting only the last year, I suppose, but even then you’re not really telling the truth because they’re comparable over the last year, and only if you take one year into account.
If your food inflation was 10% year 1 and 18% year 2 then your total inflation over two years is 35.7%.
If your food inflation on year 1 is 5% and year 2 is 20% then your total inflation over two years is 26%
You might look at the year two value and claim that inflation is higher, but food prices in the UK relative to income are definitely higher due to inflation (which is seemingly being underreported) over the last 5 years.
To be fair, the lines look quite comparable, but when I compare the monthly shop I do to what my friends and family do, and I factor in salary- it doesn’t nearly paint the picture that Sweden and the UK are comparable.
“Cost of living crisis” is decidedly not a thing in Sweden, not to the same scale, even if there are a contingent of people who struggle a little. Choosing between heating and eating is uniquely a British position in this regard. Similar to gun crime in the US, it seems like the Brit’s are pointing to all other countries as if they have the same issues and of course they do not.
The only reason I would even suggest that higher energy prices are good for ecology would be that businesses started genuinely doing things to cut consumption, like turning off lit advertising and office lights.
That people are essentially priced out of living healthy is nothing to be celebrated of course, but there is a small silver lining and it should be discussed.
that people cant afford to live is a pretty massive failing of the UK and its policies. That’s been talked to death though.