How Labour has already cost people money without even being elected

Labour's policy of freezing gas prices sounded great - while they were going up - but it was suggested at the time (including on this blog) that the threat of this policy from Labour would cost people money immediately: if the energy companies thought there was a risk of Ed Miliband winning the forthcoming election and enacting this policy, they were likely to get the price increases in first.

A report in the Sun today which you can read at

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/6344510/Milibands-energy-freeze-puts-70-on-bills.html

quotes an industry expert as suggesting that Energy bills today might be 10% lower if Miliband had never announced his price freeze policy, and estimating that he has cost a typical family £70 in higher bills.

Can this be proven one way or the other? No, as we can never be certain what would have happened.

Doubtless those who want to believe in Labour will dismiss it as a slur by the "Tory Press."

But personally I suspect that the analyst the Sun quotes is probably not far out.

Which makes a point which should make potential Labour voters pause -

If Ed Miliband can cost ordinary families £70 just through announcing badly-thought-through policies before he has even been elected -

how much damage could he do as Prime Minister?

Comments

Jim said…
"how much damage could he do as Prime Minister?

That's the point isn't it. How much damage could Ed Miliband, or anyone else for that matter, including David Cameron do as Prime Minister?

The answer, of course, under the present system of selected dictatorship is a great deal of damage indeed.

that, as i keep explaining, is exactly why the country needs This

Until we do get it, then, its really by the by. If the country is to be safe from people like Ed then we need to remove power from the goverment, and place it back in its rightful place, that place of course is with the people.
11:25 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
I am in favour of increasing participatory democracy. But for now we have to work within the system we have.
11:30 pm
Jim said…
That short sighted approach is exactly why we have this problem.

There will never be a government who "allow" democracy. The hold absolute power has is un-yearning. The last thing any want to do is "give up" that power. Democracy is not something that can be given, no one has the authority to give it. Democracy is something that must be taken. Its something that must be won, by the very people who want it.

Look how long it took the chartists to obtain their demands (well 4 of them so far, to this day we don't have an annual election and we don't have equal constituencies) but they did win and take back 4. (1. A vote per person, 2. the ballot, 3. no property qualification for MPs, 4. Payment of MPs) though I do admit demand number 4 kind of backfired.

Revolutions need not be bloody and gory, they can simply be had by playing no part in a system that is not fit for purpose.



12:04 am
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