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Water Prices to Rise in Summer

February 28th, 2010

What a Con!

Southern Water is planning a 6% price increase during the summer months to “encourage everyone to save water.”

What an absolute load of bull!

If this “reason” has been dreamed up by their marketing team, it’s time they considered another occupation.

This is just another devious way by which a Utility Company that made over 334 million pounds last year will further increase it’s profits and flex its muscles.

Southern Water’s Customers include the hundreds of Growers who supply our supermarkets with summer salads, so obviously the healthy produce that our Granny State encourages everyone to eat will increase in price at twice our annual inflation rate!

It will be interesting to see if Ofwat – the price Regulator – allow this con to take place.

What will happen when the supermarkets learn they can buy salad produce cheaper from Europe and many Growers are left with rotting waste?

These same Growers will be driven out of business for the same reason that more than 200 Channel Island tomato Growers have been forced to close down – because they couldn’t reduce their wholesale price sufficiently to allow the supermarket chains to make huge profits.

The British Manufacturing Industry was killed off by Mrs Thatcher – she allowed them to die to rid herself of Trades Unions because she couldn’t control them.

It looks like the British Growing Industry is going the same way – this time through Corporate Greed!

I was laughed at when in 2005 I wrote that within 5 years large Corporations, Utility Companies and Financial Services would rule the roost!

I don’t hear anyone laughing now!

Can this really happen?

If urgent action isn’t taken to curb the greed of 2% of our natio, jobs will continue to vanish and unemployment will rise beyond 6 million within 5 years.

Without insufficient revenue in the form of income tax and national insurance contributions to continue to support the NHS, free medical care will be a thing of the past.

No benefits will be paid because we won’t be able to borrow any more money to pay for them because we continue to default on our interest payments.

Mob rule will dominate the lawless streets of Britain, property and valuables belonging to the most vulnerable will be looted and stolen while millions die homeless, hungry and disease ridden!

One line of Rule Britannia says:”Britain never never shall be slaves.”

I, and several thousand more have decided to question this and so, after a lot of realistic thought, should you.

Why? For the simple reason that only decisive positive action by you and millions more like you can do anything to save this country!

Think about it!!

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Cadbury Chocolate will never taste the same!

February 18th, 2010

Kraft (USA)

They looked, they saw, they lied and they conquered

According to unelected Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, Kraft only succeeded in their hostile take-over of Cadburys because they made promises to the workers at Cadbury Somerdale factory that they had no intention of keeping.

Is that called breaking a promise or just plain lying?

Cadbury were initially planning to close their Somerdale factory and many of their shareholders were delighted to sell to Kraft in order to save 400 hundred jobs.

When Mandelson met Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfield at Somerdale last week to discuss the takeover she didn’t have the common courtesy to mention that she had changed her mind about reversing the closure programme.

It would appear that the 400 workers at Somerdale were initially assured that their jobs would be safe in order for Kraft to persuade the British Shareholders to sell their shares.

I don’t like this kind of double dealing – playing with peoples’ lives in the name of profit and I hope every British Citizen will remember Kraft’s plans to throw 400 decent people on to the scrap heap.

I suggest the best way to remember is the next time you can afford to buy a Cadbury product – DON’T!

Try the other brand of chocolate beside it instead AND stop buying Kraft products – others are just as good anyway!

What about the Union into which all 400 hundred workers have been religiously paying their dues?

What are they doing other than talking?

OR have all their teeth been extracted as well?

They’re taking money under false pretences from their Members.

If Trades Unions can no longer look after their Members I suggest all of them shut up shop for good! They’re a useful as a split condom!!

Who made the most profit from this Hostile take-over?

As if you couldn’t guess!

THE HEDGE FUNDS AND THE BANKS OF COURSE!

BANKS AND LAWYERS ALONE MADE A PROFIT OF £240 MILLION!!

SO WHO MADE THE REST?

When this hostile take-over was first muted last September millions of Cadbury shares were snapped up by Hedge Funds and Banks to immediately and dramatically create a surge in the value of Cadbury.

The initial Kraft offer of £9.8 billion had to be increased to £11.9 billion to finalise the deal.

The Banks and their Lawyers were happy and the Hedge Funds ecstatic!

The Losers?

Just the workers at Cadburys as they watched their Pension Fund disappear into a black hole somewhere in Kraft’s heart.

The workers now know they have an Employer they can’t forever trust.

What about the Government?

They got well and truly screwed by Kraft and the Hedge Funds in the name of PROFIT.

A lesson has been learned – the law must be changed to protect all Companies from attack by foreign Predators.

Four things must happen:

  1. Once any take-over bid is announced the target Company’s shares should not be traded.
  2. A water tight Agreement should be signed by the Predator to guarantee British jobs.
  3. The Company Pension Fund should remain in the Country of origin, not in the Predator’s control because it doesn’t belong to them.
  4. Although it doesn’t apply to Cadbury – short selling shares should be made illegal when everyone knows that these trades are usually made with insider knowledge, already a criminal offence.

These greedy parasites are milking the world dry in the name of profit because they don’t give a blood-sucker’s damn about the consequences!

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Why are too few New Jobs being created?

February 17th, 2010

Why isn’t anyone able to come up with and implement just one new workable idea to create new jobs?

I’m more than curious to find out exactly what does happen at the heart of the Department of Work and Pensions – sounds like all huff and no puff!

Let’s start with small acorns

There are thousands of small businesses out there that need to hire just one maybe two new employees but dare not take the risk because:

  • Their banks have reduced, even withdrawn the overdraft facilities they’ve relied on to cover wages, PAYE and National Insurance.
  • If these potential employees are presently in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance, why don’t the Government agree to continue to pay the employer £100 a week towards each new recruit’s weekly wage for 12 months?
  • In addition, the employer will be excused from paying his / her share of PAYE and NIC’s for 12 months.
  • The Government will guarantee a bank overdraft of £3,000 in respect of each new recruit.
  • This scheme can be 100% administered locally from every Job Centre to deal with both prospective employers and employees without having to set up a new Department.

New Unemployment Figures were published today

The total number of unemployed numbered 2.46 million during the quarter ending December 2009, 3,000 less than the previous 3 months.

So, fewer than 3,000 were able to find work from June to December 2009 proving the total lack of jobs on offer – another reason for creating NEW JOBS!

Long term unemployment (no job for 12 months) increased by 37,000 during 2009 – How many of them would like the opportunity of becoming Self Employed and given all the training they need to make a start?

They’d also require an adequate grant to set up and anything up to a year’s continuity of benefits so they could concentrate on getting their new business up and running.

PLUS a private consultation as often as they needed to help them sort out any teething problems that they will definitely come across.

Another Little Acorn

Many of these long term unemployed used to work in the once proud building industry, now unfortunately in a deep coma.

Have you ever tried to find a Plumber, an Electrician, a Plasterer or someone that could build a decent wall?

Difficult, isn’t it and expensive!

I’m certain there are literally thousands of decent family men and women who would give their eye teeth to learn one of these occupations while continuing to receive their entitlement.

There used to be hundreds of Government Training Centres in the UK – where are they now? Let’s have them back NOW, and let’s face it, there are a lot of empty suitable buildings crying out to be used!

Each Training Centre would include a separate department to show newly qualified people how to set up their own business and if necessary provide a grant to help them start, if that’s what they wanted to do.

With thousands more qualified Plumbers and Electricians around perhaps a little competition would make it easier to find one complete with an affordable hourly rate.

I’m certain that these small Acorns will produce results

If only fewer than 3,000 people have been able to find work in 6 months over the whole of the UK, how many 10’s of thousands could find work from just a couple of ideas from a rank amateur?

I bet there are hundreds of like minded people out there with similar ideas – if so come on, let’s hear from you!

Your Country Needs YOU!!

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The UK used to have a Triple “A” Credit Rating

February 16th, 2010

Did you know our Credit Rating is now NEUTRAL?

Although the Government managed to sell £2 billion worth of bonds last Tuesday, our debt is spiraling out of control.

The British High Street Banks that originally caused this chaos are now suffering themselves through increased insurance premiums to protect money owed to them by our Government just in case they default on interest payments.

When I first heard about the obscene amounts of bonus payments that banks wanted to pay without the Chancellor or the PM publicly objecting, I decided that there was more to this than meets the eye.

We’ve all listened to MP’s and “Experts” demanding that the capital injections of Tax Payers’ money should be returned immediately instead of paying bonuses.

My opinion of these people who should know better has gone down even more (if that’s possible).

If an amateur like me can find out about these vitally important matters, surely those whose job it is to know, should!

What does the immediate future hold?

Let’s discuss just one year ahead.

The Chancellor has no choice but to take the following action, first to improve our Credit Rating and secondly to increase Treasury Revenue.

It looks to me that he has no choice but to urge the Bank of England to increase the Interest Rate.

I did say last year in one of my articles that I expected the BOE base rate to increase by 2 points by the end of 2010. I’m sticking to what I said, although it could be more.

This could be the eventual cause of a second financial dip that will cause even more pain but what alternative do we have?

In addition, I also forecast that VAT would increase during 2010 to 20%. I may have underestimated and now fully expect the Chancellor to increase our VAT to perhaps 22%!

Stringent cuts that neither political Party have the guts to talk about before a General Election are going to affect every man, woman and child in the UK.

I have two suggestions, Mr Chancellor

Family Allowance was originally introduced to encourage population growth after the second world war because so many courageous service men and women AND civilians had been killed.

It now costs in excess of £7 billion every year.

I consider that any family with an annual income exceeding £30,000 a year should be disallowed.

The saving would be around £3 billion each year.

That’s a start!

A rethink of Working Tax Credits entitlement is also a good idea.

If a family have in excess of £30,000 annual income, they don’t need to be in receipt of Tax credits, do they?

Another saving of around £5 billion a year!

Surely they’ve already thought of these?

Once again, I’m just an amateur, so surely the Chancellor has already thought of this and doesn’t have the guts to do anything before the Election.

Alternatively, the Tories would swoop if Government announced this immediate cut to score Brownie Election Points.

But what cuts are they planning? Privatisation of our beloved NHS?

We all know that we’re about to experience some shock cuts this year, so come on Mr Chancellor, show some spunk and DO SOMETHING NOW!

We have real problems today and have just about reached the end of our borrowing power.

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Is the 50% Tax on Bonuses enough?

February 11th, 2010

Coffee with a Commodity Trader

I had arrived in the City at 7.30am to make certain of a parking space and went into a surprisingly crowded coffee shop as my meeting wasn’t until 8.30am.

I enjoyed a great cup of coffee, minus unfortunately my “used to be” favourite blueberry muffin, and realised I was slap bang in the middle of the City’s financial area.

A few minutes later I was joined by a very amiable young well dressed man who immediately said: “Good morning.”

He asked if I worked “in the street.” I told him I didn’t and asked where he worked.

He was employed by a large bank and traded commodities. He then started to, I thought arrogantly, complain about the Government’s 50% tax on all large Bank bonuses.

I immediately told him I had no objection to anyone earning a fair bonus but some of the bonuses were unwarrantable.

His reply made the hairs on my neck stand rigid:

His Bonus was only £1.3 million!

He pointed out that he had personally generated in excess of £38 million profit for his employer last year while he received a mere £1.3 million bonus in return.

I adapted my hero worship look when I asked specifically what commodities he traded – They were cereals and Soya beans.

I then innocently asked what would happen to the price if Financial Institutions like his didn’t trade these commodities.

Quick as a flash he replied that he’d be working with a bunch of idiots in some Bank earning only 20K a year.

It really was all about money and Greed

“And what about the price of cereals”, I enquired, “if you weren’t trading would they be higher or lower?”

“Oh much lower, although third world growers would still get a miserable price with all the profits remaining with the middle men.”

“But then surely your profits as a Trading House jack up the price further, do they not?”

“So what, Johnny Public complains but still buy bread and cereals, higher prices can now be blamed on just about anything except us.”

“What about the poor unemployed sods with children who struggle to buy a loaf of bread?”

His answer made me want to smack this arrogant little toad: “The lazy mules should go and find work or alternatively go out and beg!”

Short Selling HBOS Shares

I tried one last shot as he still had half a cup of coffee: “So you support the Speculators who drove up the cost of gas, electricity and fuel and those who were responsible for short selling HBOS shares during 2008?”

“Of course I do. They made huge profits didn’t they and that’s what we do. Besides, any idiot knows that the only way to make enormous profits by short selling is to have reliable inside information.”

He immediately knew he had said too much, left his coffee, gave me a look that would have withered a cactus and hurried out.

Should they stay or should they go?

As I was strolling to my meeting, I thought of the arguments against the Government’s 50% tax on large Bank Bonuses; if we penalise too many high flyers and they leave this country, London will no longer be the Financial capital of the world.

Besides, these traders aren’t responsible for for the wrongdoings of the Banks.

I concluded: Screw this argument! While the Banks were gambling with public money another of their Departments were hiking prices of everything we use and creating wholesale misery.

Raise the damned tax to 80% and drive blood sucking leeches out – I’m certain North Korea will welcome them with open arms.

On the other hand, if President Obama does the u-turn on Bankers’ Bonuses that he’s suspected to be considering, these traitors will go to America and do it all over again.

If that’s the case, you’d best start preparing now for an even deeper recession at the end of this year!

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