i've just realised, we are having our trousers pulled down!

Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2009
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well, by 'we', i mean 'us' as a country and it's a lie that i say i have just realised, it's more a case of now i feel like doing something about it. what am i talking about? the cost of living in this country of course! i just filled my motor up and paid 1.29 per litre for the privelage, i then paid and even though i'm off the smokes for the month noticed that 20 marlboro was nearly £7! i understand that VAT has now gone up to a quite ridiculous 20% and it is now apparent that retailers are using this as an excuse to add a but more of a hike in price but other than have a good old moan about it, is there actually anything people can do or are we just expected to have it harder again this year than last year and repeat?
 
well, by 'we', i mean 'us' as a country and it's a lie that i say i have just realised, it's more a case of now i feel like doing something about it. what am i talking about? the cost of living in this country of course! i just filled my motor up and paid 1.29 per litre for the privelage, i then paid and even though i'm off the smokes for the month noticed that 20 marlboro was nearly £7! i understand that VAT has now gone up to a quite ridiculous 20% and it is now apparent that retailers are using this as an excuse to add a but more of a hike in price but other than have a good old moan about it, is there actually anything people can do or are we just expected to have it harder again this year than last year and repeat?

What can we do? Revolution? No one will.
 
Unless you’re planning to go out on the streets to riot there isn’t much to do apart from a bit of belt tightening and getting on with it.
 
The only way we're going to pay back our trillion of debt is by inflating our currency. That's why they're doing it. Inflation is riding around the 6% mark at the moment, despite what official figures may state.

It's all part of a two-decade long cleanup process to fix the mistakes of the last government.
 
Yes, we are getting royaly shafted. However, people will just get on with it. There's no doubt about that. I don't agree with it but then there's not a fat lot can be done about it.
 
I agree that retailers will use this as an excuse to increase profit margin as they have the perfect excuse. Say a product is £149.99, the vat rise would put that to £153 ish yet its just easier for the retailer to have a price of £154.99 or even £159.99 instead due to the way they love their ticket prices to be.

Its very annoying, but theres also nothing any of us can do about it
 
I hate the term "the last government". They'd be blaming the previous guys for something regardless of whether we had national debt or not. Infact we had national debt back when the Conservatives were "the last government". Passing the blame a bit - but w/e.

@OP: There's the door -->
 
It's all part of a two-decade long cleanup process to fix the mistakes of the last government.

great, well at 31 that's 2 very important decades for me, essentially it's going to be crap! about time i worked on my 5 year plan to get out of here.

students protested against the rise in tuition fees, yet we just seem to continually take this shafting!
 
The only way we're going to pay back our trillion of debt is by inflating our currency. That's why they're doing it. Inflation is riding around the 6% mark at the moment, despite what official figures may state

Ah the return of "real inflation" i.e. we don't agree with actual inflation based on sound statistical analysis so we'll pick a handful of select items to prove it's higher than the government are saying.
 
I hate the term "the last government". They'd be blaming the previous guys for something regardless of whether we had national debt or not. Infact we had national debt back when the Conservatives were "the last government". Passing the blame a bit - but w/e.

@OP: There's the door -->

+1 they are all as bad as each other. We take it from behind in the UK and enjoy it, best way to fight back is not to spend any money apart from essentials, which happens to be my new years resolution.
 
I hate the term "the last government". They'd be blaming the previous guys for something regardless of whether we had national debt or not.

This time they'd be right though. Chairman Brown destroyed all means & contingency we had for dealing with the inevitable bust. No more boom & bust eh Gordon? Well he was hoping so, because he knew the state the country's finances were in, that we'd end up like this & still did nothing.
 
it was stupidity, i agree but atleast they let their feelings be known, we consumers never get the chance. if petrol were to go up to 1.50 pl, we'd still pay it!

Of course you get the chance. But, it's not just going to come along from nothing. How about you organise something?
 
The thing i dont like is .. or understand is that while vat is going up and general items will get more expensive as a result.. but will this reflected price ever come down over the course of time when the debt has been reduced?

i.e in time will vat ever go back down.. or will we just get used to it and adjust accordingly and the government will just leave it at that to make a few extra quid.

This question just came up on ch4 on the vat rise discussion on the lass under the spotlight didnt really have an answer for this!
 
This time they'd be right though. Chairman Brown destroyed all means & contingency we had for dealing with the inevitable bust. No more boom & bust eh Gordon? Well he was hoping so, because he knew the state the country's finances were in, that we'd end up like this & still did nothing.

Let's not get too carried away though because a coalition government minister was just this week saying that the housing bubble will never be allowed to occur again... ;) Perhaps not in his career, no...
 
The thing i dont like is .. or understand is that while vat is going up and general items will get more expensive as a result.. but will this reflected price ever come down over the course of time when the debt has been reduced?

i.e in time will vat ever go back down.. or will we just get used to it and adjust accordingly and the government will just leave it at that to make a few extra quid.

This question just came up on ch4 on the vat rise discussion on the lass under the spotlight didnt really have an answer for this!

no, it will never come back down. manufacturers, suppliers and retailers will all add on their little bit on top of the regulated VAT. this is a right pigs ear of an economy. drop it to 15% only to hike it back up to a record level within a little over 18 months. nice one.
 
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