sieste 2 days ago

Largely driven by high fraction of natural gas in British energy mix. British gas production in the north sea has declined, no more imports from Russia and now 60% of imported gas comes from Norway[1], which is more expensive.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/natural-gas-chapter...

  • 4ndrewl a day ago

    And the previous government closed pretty much all our storage capacity, disabling any ability to buy at lower prices and store for later use.

tim333 a day ago

It's rather annoying as a brit. Apparently the wholesale cost of electricty is about 7p in the UK but I get charged 25p. Something not very efficient is going on.

  • NikkiA a day ago

    Profit extraction, and it's very efficient

    • mprev a day ago

      Around 30% is climate levy and similar taxes, plus there’s 5% VAT.

      • sahmeepee a day ago

        If 30% is climate levy then that's some rather cheap electricity, because the climate levy is less than 1p/kWh.

        https://www.gov.uk/guidance/climate-change-levy-rates

        This is what happens when people treat the Telegraph as news rather than a source of disinformation used by wealthy vested interests to manipulate public opinion.

  • bell-cot a day ago

    7p looks a tad optimistic, but only a tad - https://energy-stats.uk/wholesale-energy-pricing/

    That I'm aware of, the "wholesale cost" does not include the local distribution networks. Those cost a fair number of pence to build and maintain.

    And - I vaguely recall that the UK had world-beating taxes and surcharges on electricity - some for "green" reasons, some to spread the agony of the staggering cost overruns at new British nuclear plants, and some to help shore up the government's "general budget" financial woes.

bell-cot 2 days ago

(Developed world only.)

Of those countries where geography precludes easy imports from competent neighbors, is there any which has generally had lower-functioning government over the past half-ish century?

the_real_cher a day ago

Britain seems like such a crazy dystopia these days.

cameras everywhere, immigration overwhelming natives in certain neighborhoods, ASBOs, some of the highest rent prices in the world, average economy.

how are middle class britons doing?

  • naming_the_user a day ago

    You need to define middle class properly in order to answer this question.

    Actual middle class Brits who own property - fairly decently. There are some headwinds with regards to things like energy prices etc but it's mostly fine.

    "Middle class" Brits e.g. sons and daughters of the middle class who are renting (often sharing), not so great. It's relatively difficult to buy nowadays because we stopped building.

  • tonyedgecombe a day ago

    >cameras everywhere

    Less cameras per-capita than the US.

    > ASBOs

    ASBOs were abolished in England and Wales in 2014.

    >some of the highest rent prices in the world, average economy.

    In London which doesn't have an average economy.

    • jmholla a day ago

      > Less cameras per-capita than the US.

      I think comparison to density with regards to land mass and not number of people would be a more relevant comparison.

    • the_real_cher 6 hours ago

      I'm not from there so sorry I'm behind on some of this stuff.

      It does look like on the wiki they were abolished however they were replaced by something else?

      I don't know enough about it. The idea of an ASBO when I read about it sounded insane abuse of power to me.

      ""ASBOs were replaced in England and Wales by the civil injunctions and criminal behaviour orders"'

    • vfclists a day ago

      ASBOs still exist. They have just been given a different name. Do your homework.

      How about the IPP prison sentences which still exist.

  • cedws 15 hours ago

    It’s terrible and I’m currently arranging my escape to Asia. And I’m one of the lucky ones.

jacknews a day ago

Seems like Britain still pays the highest price for almost anything, in the world, and used to be known by international traders as 'treasure island', and I guess still is.

  • indemnity a day ago

    I was quite surprised when car shopping, that prices in New Zealand (always pretty expensive, being a small market far away from the rest of the world), were on average 20% to 30% less than the UK. Including European brands and vehicles actually manufactured in the UK, like the Nissan Qashqai.

  • sieste 21 hours ago

    compare grocery store prices between uk and us. you'll be surprised.