Graphs at a glance: how electricity and gas bill promises from Miliband and Cameron are just yet more hot air and flatulence

Did Ed Miliband, speaking at the 2013 Labour Party Conference, actually believe his promise to freeze the price of electricity and gas would help anybody other than himself and his electoral (and leadership) prospects? Any more than David Cameron believed in his own unequivocal promise to stop energy companies ripping off Britons by making it law that we should be paying the lowest tariffs? A promise Cameron made so clearly, so concisely, so undeniably that we reproduce his words directly from Hansard (Parliament’s...

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Both socialists and neo-liberals should ally to stop the "Big Six" energy firms' rip-off

Fee and Chris explain it all to KJ...SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Miliband promises Labour would freeze energy bills for TWO YEARSHard-pressed families would see their energy bills frozen for 20 months if Labour won the election, Ed Miliband promised today. The price freeze would save the average household £120 each and businesses £1,800 on electricity and gas bills. The freeze from the 2015 election until January 2017 would take some of the pressure off squeezed family budgets, which have suffered from years of soaring bills. Households spent...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 26th September)

Miliband promises Labour would freeze energy bills for TWO YEARSHard-pressed families would see their energy bills frozen for 20 months if Labour won the election, Ed Miliband promised today. The price freeze would save the average household £120 each and businesses £1,800 on electricity and gas bills. The freeze from the 2015 election until January 2017 would take some of the pressure off squeezed family budgets, which have suffered from years of soaring bills. Households spent an average of £1,339 on gas and electricity last year – an 85 per...

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Hidden bank fees mean UK pensions can be 50% smaller than those on the Continent, despite saving the same amount

SOURCE TELEGRAPH: Rip-off pension fees 'cost savers £27bn', says OFTIn a mammoth report, the Office of Fair Trading declared the £275 billion pensions industry has short-changed and bewildered savers and employers alike with workplace pensions that carry a complex web of up to 18 different hidden fees. The highest annual fee in the market is 2.3% (consuming 50% of your pension pot) and the lowest 0.05%. Across the industry, some 14% of schemes, holding £40 billion of assets, were judged to be poor value for money. Previous research by the Telegraph...

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Graphs at a glance: Government wants you to think we made a profit on sale of Lloyds Bank shares. Actually we made a thumping loss!

http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Interactive-chartThe UK government’s sale of the first tranche of Lloyds Banking Group shares, bought in 2008 to bail out that crashing bank, exposed how we ordinary taxpayers are being soundly ripped-off once again. The chancellor, George Osborne, wrote on 17th September 2013:“The Government has today sold 6% of the bank’s [Lloyds Banking Group] shares to institutional investors for 75p per share, raising £3.2 billion. The sale price is 1.4p per share more than the 73.6p the previous government bought...

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A quarter of all MPs give parliamentary office jobs to their family members, costing taxpayers £4m

KJ and Fee try to look on the bright side of nepotism...SOURCE MIRROR  DAILY MAIL : Quarter of MPs give jobs to family: Taxpayers' bill for politicians who employ wives and children soars to £4m a yearDespite fury over parliamentary expenses, 155 MPs – nearly one in four – now have wives, children and even parents on the public payroll. The relatives enjoy salaries as high as £50,000 for office duties – costing taxpayers £4million last year. Hypocritical MPs dishing out taxpayers’ money to relatives while arguing for a freeze...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 19th September)

Quarter of MPs give jobs to family: Taxpayers' bill for politicians who employ wives and children soars to £4m a yearDespite fury over parliamentary expenses, 155 MPs – nearly one in four – now have wives, children and even parents on the public payroll. The relatives enjoy salaries as high as £50,000 for office duties – costing taxpayers £4million last year. Hypocritical MPs dishing out taxpayers’ money to relatives while arguing for a freeze on public sector pay include Cabinet minister Michael Moore, health minister Dan Poulter and foreign minister...

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New “tough stance” means all benefit fraudsters face increased sentences of up to 10 years in jail

SOURCE BBC NEWS: Benefit fraud could lead to 10-year jail terms, says DPPKeir Starmer QC said it was time for a "tough stance" on the £1.9bn annual cost of the crime. Suspects can now be charged under the Fraud Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. In the past, benefits cheats were commonly charged under social security legislation carrying a maximum sentence of seven years. In 2012, the number of offenders jailed for benefit fraud was 262 and the average sentence length was six months and one week. Last year, the CPS saw more...

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Graphs at a glance: The poorest fifth of Britons pay a higher rate of tax than the richest fifth says the Office for National Statistics

The wealthy and their pals in government and in the media whine that they are over taxed. The fact according to the UK government's Office for National Statistics is the wealthiest fifth of Britons pay a lower rate of tax than the poorest fifth. ONS figures reveal:For every hundred pounds of a rich man's income £35.50 is paid in tax.For every hundred pounds of a poor man's income £36.60 is paid in tax.How is this possible? Because these figures include both direct taxes (e.g. income tax) as well as indirect taxes (e.g. VAT). Each Quintile...

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Graphs at a glance: The poorest fifth of Britons pay a higher rate of tax than the richest fifth says the Office of National Statistics

The wealthy and their pals in government and in the media whine that they are over taxed. The fact according to the UK government's Office of National Statistics is the wealthiest fifth of Britons pay a lower rate of tax than the poorest fifth. ONS figures reveal:For every hundred pounds of a rich man's income £35.50 is paid in tax.For every hundred pounds of a poor man's income £36.60 is paid in tax.How is this possible? Because these figures include both direct taxes (e.g. income tax) as well as indirect taxes (e.g. VAT). Each Quintile...

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The Royal Mail is to be privatised to stop it “competing for funds with our schools, our hospitals.”

...or will it, wonder Fee, KJ and Chris...SOURCE GUARDIAN: Royal Mail staff set to strike after ministers unveil plans for £3bn sell-offPostal chaos fears as privatisation 'not even Thatcher dared do' gets green light.OUR RELATED STORIES:Outsourcing public services: a case of privatised profits, socialised lossesLiebrary: The real reason why British rail fares are sky highHouse of Lords refuses to block bill forcing NHS to tender services, and taking away their right to reject dodgy providersHave regulators in other sectors learned the lessons...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 12th September)

Poor forced to use food banks? They've only got themselves to blame for making bad decisions, says Michael GoveThe Education Secretary argued that people who find themselves unable to buy essentials, including food and school uniforms have themselves to blame for being unable ‘to manage their finances’. More than half a million people across Britain have turned to food banks to stave off hunger, according to charities. Cuts to benefits, frozen or falling wages and rising living costs have been blamed in part for some people struggling to make ends...

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MPs can claim up to £2,425 in travel expenses to pay for their childrens' visits

SOURCE TELEGRAPH: MPs use children to claim more expensesAlmost 150s MPs have been given permission to claim expenses on behalf of their children, the parliamentary regulator has disclosed as it prepares to offer politicians a £10,000 pay rise.OUR RELATED STORIES:Graphs at a glance: MPs are paid more than 95% of Britons, and that doesn't even include their expensesGraphs at a glance: With yet more reports of MPs misbehaving and enriching themselves, we look to see who actually selects these peopleGraphs at a glance: MPs just do as they are told...

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