Can the UK cope with this cold winter snap?
Over the last few days it has become apparent that the UK utility sector is firmly at the beck and call of overseas suppliers with particular concern in the area of gas. The Conservative party revealed that UK gas supplies, the backup system in place in the event of a catastrophic incident, have only eight days of gas supply left for the UK. While there is no chance that the UK gas supply will be cut off it does prompt the question as to whether gas prices will start to rise for UK consumers.
Many have been highlighting the fact that the UK utility sector is now effectively controlled by overseas companies and natural utility supplies in the UK are often exported overseas and re-imported back into the UK. This complicated system has put the UK at the beck and call of overseas suppliers and with gas prices in particular having risen significantly over the last few years, UK consumers are certainly feeling the pinch. So what can the government do?
Aside from tightening regulations in the UK to offer more protection to UK households, there is very little that the UK can do because we operate in a free market and by privatising the utility sector this offered the opportunity for businesses to be acquired by overseas parents.
Share this..
Related stories
London Stock Exchange to take a controlling share in rival
The London Stock Exchange is believed to be on the verge of announcing a deal which would see the company take a 60% stake in loss-making trading platform rival Turquoise. The London Stock Exchange has been in talks with its rival since October and many believe it is on the verge of injecting up to £20 million into the operation in exchange for 60% of the business. This is quite a clever move...
Read MoreMervyn King Set To Call The Shots
As a follow-up to our article on calls from Mervyn King for UK banks to participate in a new compensation scheme for the financial industry, the governor of the Bank of England has hinted that emergency finance will be more costly in the future. It seems as though the Northern Rock saga has started a movement towards a new regulatory regime which will be announced in the autumn.
Me...
Gordon Brown reiterates government stance on LDV Vans
The government has again reiterated that there will be no short-term loan facility made available to UK van manufacturer LDV Vans. The company is currently owned by a Russian parent company and there have been calls for the parent company to inject substantial funding into the operation to ensure its existence going forward. This would appear to have fallen on deaf ears and the UK unions are now b...
Read MoreMortgage market radiating different signals
The UK mortgage market has very much separated into a more positive traditional mortgage sector and a negative remortgage sector. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today confirmed that new loans were up by 29% in August, compared to the same period last year, although remortgages were down by 57% over the same period.
However, when taking both figures in context, i.e. the ma...
Icelandic authorities agree to pay back €3.8 billion
The Icelandic parliament has today passed a bill which will see over €3.8 billion repaid to UK and Netherlands savers who lost out in the Icelandic financial collapse. The vast majority of the money will go back to the UK and Netherlands government who have already been forced to compensate over 300,000 savers with money lost after the collapse. This is the next stage in the economic reco...
Read More