Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[The Brain]

*wikis frsly* And apparently the original is Japanese.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm stunned.  This whole time I thought it was the epitome of American Silicon Valley inspired start up culture.  Exported to a thankful world.

[Tamas]

Johnson likened himself to Cincinnatus in his "farewell" speech. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

Johnson likened himself to Cincinnatus in his "farewell" speech. 

Of course he did 

[The Brain]

Johnson likened himself to Cincinnatus in his "farewell" speech. 

Jesus Christ.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Cincinnatus got to be dictator twice btw 

[Sheilbh]

Although we're not a classical-literate society so the explainers are perhaps not the vibe Johnson was going for: "Boris Johnson likens himself to Roman who returned as dictator"

[Richard Hakluyt]

Yeah and Mary Beard reminds us that Cincinnatus was an enemy of the people :

https://twitter.com/wmarybeard/status/1567039650027413506

[The Brain]

OK Mary Trump-Stalin.

[Syt]

https://twitter.com/coldwarsteve/status/1566754836124688387

[The Brain]

Photoshop?

[Syt]

Not sure.

[Sheilbh]

Reports on Truss' plan for energy:

Truss Plans £40 Billion Energy-Aid Package for UK Businesses
Options include guaranteed unit price, or percentage reduction
Separate plan caps average household bills at less than £2,000
ByAlex Wickham
6 September 2022 at 09:05 BSTUpdated on6 September 2022 at 11:07 BST

Incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss is finalizing plans for a £40 billion ($46 billion) support package to lower energy bills for UK businesses.

Truss is considering two options, one of which is a cap on firms' energy costs similar to a proposal that would protect British households. The other option is a percentage or unit price reduction that all energy suppliers must offer companies, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.

The government would reimburse energy suppliers for their losses, under the plans, and the price of energy charged to businesses would be reviewed quarterly.

Very small businesses could receive even more help, possibly in the form of a lower price cap. Ministers have a "key objective" to give local firms -- such as fish and chip shops, and independent pubs -- the same protection as households, the documents said.

The incoming government is planning on capping average annual household energy bills at or below the current level of £1,971, Bloomberg reported Monday. The move would prevent household bills from jumping 80% in October, after the regulator Ofgem said the price cap would rise to an average annual rate of £3,548 without further government intervention.

The protections for households and businesses will be announced in the coming weeks, and the aim is to implement both programs next month. While there is currently no price cap for businesses, many companies' energy contracts tend to be renewed in October, the documents said. Officials are in the process of drafting emergency legislation.

A spokesperson for Truss declined to comment.

Factories and Hospitality

Energy prices have soared since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, triggering warnings that thousands of businesses may go bankrupt.

Limiting households' bills could cost as much as £130 billion over the next 18 months, according to policy documents seen by Bloomberg. The cost of the plan to protect businesses will range from £21 billion to £42 billion over six months, depending on how low the cap is set. Over a year, the estimated costs to the government range from £28 billion to £67 billion.

The plan for business is cheaper than Truss's proposal to help households because industrial users are typically able to negotiate lower energy prices.

The unit price could be further reduced for some sectors in order to target support for industries that are particularly vulnerable to high prices, including factories, hospitality and leisure. Companies with low energy costs relative to revenues and profits, such as financial services firms, may not require support, according to the documents.

(Updates with details on small business support, the household cap, and the cost of the programs)

Three thoughts on this.

One is I'm still dubious about capping prices (and subsidising wholesalers) because it seems to me that will not get the price signal for reducing consumption/energy efficiency.

Second is the lost opportunity - cost estimates go up to about 5% of GDP and reminds me of the various issues where the UK is just incredibly low on capital/investment spending (like the NHS, R&D, infrastructure, energy etc). The entire country - and I largely blame the Treasury for this - is just run on a false economy. And now we're seeing it again. Again I think supply side reforms are part of this but we also just need to spend more on investing in the country, including by the state either directly or through guarantees on things like capital spending in the NHs, infrastructure etc.

Third is that the reporting is that Truss was looking at lower figures/options just last week but came to the conclusion it wouldn't be sufficient. If this is the size of state aid that's been cobbled together by Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jacob Rees-Mogg I think it's an indicator of how bad the situation is and the scale of the issue with energy for Europe.

[Josquius]

A thought.
This energy crisis does need strong action. The government can't just ignore it.
But...its such an obvious thing that needs doing it could be seen as almost a free win for Truss.
Might she save the country from the inevitable bazillion pound energy bills and then off the back of this freebie call an election?

[The Larch]

Upon her election, I've read a bit on Truss and some things I saw have been a bit weird/enlightening.

First thing first, she's much younger than I though. For some reason I had her penciled up as well in her 50s, but turns out she's only 47. Don't know if this was because of her very stiff/buttoned up appearence or what.

Second is about her background. No wonder that she comes from comfortably upper-middle class, but surprised that her family was actually quite left wing, to the point that her own father couldn't bring himself to support her political career for the Tories. I wonder now how much of her political ideology got shapen up during her youth, how much is sincere held belief and how much a reaction to what she was brought up as. Also, she was actually a Lib-Dem until university, but this doesn't seem to have any remaining influence in her political thinking apparently.

That she was a rather staunch Remainer turned fervent Brexiteer is something that brings shivers down my spine. The fervour of the convert, and all that.

Some of the things she's championed towards her election are, to me, pure poppycock and Thatcherite wet dreams rather than things that are realistic or needed.

All in all, I feel rather sorry for you Brits. She really comes up as a pretty terrible candidate. That she was considered the better one is something I really can't wrap my head around.