Energy Prices: Don't Pay Campaign
- Thread starter chilango
- Start date
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Stop paying rent is what's really needed.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
And food.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Clearly modelled on the Poll Tax (amongst other things).
This looks good.
Looks very good. Nice simple clear website, you can order leaflets and stickers for your area. Has potential this...
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Great idea. I'm in. Anyone got any idea who is behind this group?
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Was a bit of discussion over on this thread about it: Should there be an energy/fuel payment strike in the UK? Dunno what the chances of it working are but I've pretty much given up trying to predict things at this point.
muscovyduck
Good IT skills and food hygiene competent
Even if you can't hold off paying indefinitely, just "forgetting" or being 'unable' to pay for a week or two could help the cause
Went with the stickers myself.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
They're trying to remain anonymous:
Campaign calls for 1m UK consumers to stop paying energy bills
Anonymous activists behind Don’t Pay hope cancelling direct debits will have impact akin to poll tax protests
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Fair enoughThey're trying to remain anonymous:
Campaign calls for 1m UK consumers to stop paying energy bills
Anonymous activists behind Don’t Pay hope cancelling direct debits will have impact akin to poll tax protestswww.theguardian.com
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Hopefully it will be more successful than the Big Power Switch Off.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Why do you think that, I'd say the opposite? People often have no choice but to drive, and something about that risks falling into moralism, and also not everyone drives so it from the start isn't going to include plenty of the poorest people. With this in theory there's no impact to your day-to-day life as you just keep doing the same as before, just without paying. I think stuff like this has real potential.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Certainly would round here, as with maybe half of all buses being cancelled at short notice many people will have no choice bit to drive.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
There are some people who do need to drive at certain times, but there are a lot of people and a lot of journeys for which alternate forms of transport exist (especially in London). If enough people stopped using their cars for those purposes for any length of time the demand for fuel will inevitably drop and so will the price, probably rather quickly. There would be less pollution, fewer people on the road (so those who did have to use it would use less too) and hopefully many more people would realise that actually they don't need that metal thing which costs them thousands a year in fuel, insurance, depreciation, parking, servicing etc etc.
With the wider energy strike though there is no drop in demand; in fact there might even be more of a demand because some people might think "sod it" and consume more to make more of a point. All it will do is put a small hole in the pockets of energy supply companies, and it will inevitably lead to disconnections when they start to chase people for repayment. I think the only way a wider strike like that would work would be to organize less consumption, or to get more communal ownership of local generation and storage of power.
The cynic in me does wonder how genuine things like this (and especially the go-slow driving protest against forecourt prices) are.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
The fact that these people claim they want to remain anonymous for fear of "reprisals" does tend to undermine their message. Would be revolutionaries who aren't prepared to stand up and be counted are somewhat dubious.
I can think of so many flaws in this plan
Each person taking part has NO IDEA just how many others are so they are taking the same risk as if they decided to do it alone. An awful lot of people who might sign up now in the heat of the moment thinking 'we have got to do something' will have had pleny of time to realise that doing something is not without risk.
Obviously the energy companies will struggle to penalise 1m people compared to 10 thousand but they can still do it, it will just take longer and during that time people will either run up bigger and bigger debts or just give up and still have to pay the debt off. It won't just get cancelled no matter what.
This action will stay on people's credit ratings for a very long time which will effect their ability to get loans to buy other stuff including a mortgage, it will particularly hit renters hard if they have to move since not many landlords are going to be keen on a new tenant with a record of refusing to pay their bills.
And of course how will taking action against the energy companies (privately owned commercial interests) put pressure on the Govt which is the only body which could actually do something? The energy companies can scream a lot louder and will get listened to a lot more than private citizens. But the Govt doesn't have to pay subsidies it could equally change the law making it easier to put in a smart meter.
Fuel boycotts I'm equally dubious about, I'm sure that people are cutting back on what they consider non-essential driving anyway, I certainly have and I am 'relatively' well-off compared to many people. There has been a massive surge in drive offs from petrol stations of late for obvious reasons.
I can think of so many flaws in this plan
Each person taking part has NO IDEA just how many others are so they are taking the same risk as if they decided to do it alone. An awful lot of people who might sign up now in the heat of the moment thinking 'we have got to do something' will have had pleny of time to realise that doing something is not without risk.
Obviously the energy companies will struggle to penalise 1m people compared to 10 thousand but they can still do it, it will just take longer and during that time people will either run up bigger and bigger debts or just give up and still have to pay the debt off. It won't just get cancelled no matter what.
This action will stay on people's credit ratings for a very long time which will effect their ability to get loans to buy other stuff including a mortgage, it will particularly hit renters hard if they have to move since not many landlords are going to be keen on a new tenant with a record of refusing to pay their bills.
And of course how will taking action against the energy companies (privately owned commercial interests) put pressure on the Govt which is the only body which could actually do something? The energy companies can scream a lot louder and will get listened to a lot more than private citizens. But the Govt doesn't have to pay subsidies it could equally change the law making it easier to put in a smart meter.
Fuel boycotts I'm equally dubious about, I'm sure that people are cutting back on what they consider non-essential driving anyway, I certainly have and I am 'relatively' well-off compared to many people. There has been a massive surge in drive offs from petrol stations of late for obvious reasons.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
What a craven, lily-livered post. Why shouldn't people stay anonymous? You're doubtless the sort of person who wishes people stand up and fight on their opponents' terms and who piously objects to kicking people when they're down. The government isn't the only body that can do something about fuel prices, fuel companies can. And they're reaping record profits. Why not have a non-payment campaign? No one ever gets prices reduced by continuing to pay full whack, and if it gives the energy companies a bloody nose so much the better
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
Go ahead then I'm not stopping you.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Jesus. The millions of people worst affected by energy price rises aren't the same cohort as those worried about future fucking mortgages. There are millions of people for whom not paying £3300 in energy costs will not be a choice but a fact of life. They worry about feeding their kids, not some ideological pipe dream of buying a home.
If enough people do it, landlords won't be able to be so picky as to who to persecute. Just like the energy companies and the courts won't be able to penalize mass numbers of people.
Mass non-payment does work.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
The millions of people worst affected by energy price rises are on pre-payment meters so this won't help them
It's already difficult enough to get rented accomodation if you're on a low income never mind with a bad payment record hanging over you. Yes if enough people take part in this (and by enough it means millions) then yes it might mean that landlords can't afford to be so picky though of course they can just sell up rather than go to the trouble of finding new tenants.
If you are a renter taking part in this then you are making the assumption based on no verifiable proof whatsoever than the rest of society has got your back. If you genuinely believe that and it will work out then go ahead and do it, I salute your bravery but I fully understand why a lot of people might not be so keen.
muscovyduck
Good IT skills and food hygiene competent
If they don't stay anonymous they'll get sued. Not for their own energy payments like everyone else, but for the entire disruption. And that's before considering things like harassment from the media and so on. Since when did organising direct action mean you need to release your full name and other identifying info into the public domain, ffs
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
No-one need get into any trouble with this. First, you don't pay. If you're sensible you'll put what you owe on one side (if you can afford to) for when it may be needed. Then put off paying what you owe for as long as possible. Then pay it, or whatever payment plan may have been agreed. Then stop paying again. If millions of people are doing this then building societies and banks will just ignore it, if they want to continue in business. But the impact on the energy providers will be considerable and the impact on society of non-payment will also be considerable. The government won't want that. Something will happen.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
I know full well why they are staying anonymous from their point of view it makes sense but don't you think people who are being asked to take this action might be a little concerned that the organisers aren't willing to stick their heads above the parapet?
I bet if it works they will be quite happy to claim credit but if it fails and there are people on the news complaining about how this has left them in debt/in danger of losing their homes do you think they will come forward or just fade into the background?
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