Enough is enough! Energy price caps need a serious rethink, not just tinkering.
Saw young Kev from down the road yesterday, stressed to the eyeballs. He runs that little bakery on the corner, been there ten years, always gets his morning roll from me. Said his electricity bill doubled, nearly put him out of business. He’s got a pizza place too, trying to keep both afloat. It’s the same story I hear every day over the bar – people just can’t afford it.
We’ve had price caps, yeah, but they’re still crippling for small businesses like Kev’s and pubs like mine. You try running a kitchen or keeping the beer cold on these rates. It’s not just about households, the government needs to realise the impact on the actual high street, on the places people rely on for their jobs and their communities. Another pub shut down last month, gone the way of so many others.
My proposal is simple: a tiered system. Households get a decent cap, fair enough.
Enough with the endless legal dramas, sort out the courts
It drives me mad watching these endless court cases on the telly, dragging on for months, years even. It feels like the system is designed to bleed people dry, whether they're guilty or not. You hear about it down the pub too, people stuck in limbo, facing bankruptcy just to clear their name or get justice. It’s not right.
We need to speed things up, plain and simple. If a case is going to drag on, there should be a limit, a real one, not just some vague suggestion. And the costs, they need capping. People shouldn't have to sell their house to get a fair hearing, it’s more important than getting a decent pint in sometimes.
And while we’re at it, let’s look at how long people are waiting for trials. It’s a joke. Innocent until proven guilty, they say, but you wouldn’t know it if you’re stuck inside for two years before anyone even looks at your case properly.
scrap business rates for pubs
what's the point of having a system that punishes pubs for having a decent location, I mean my business rates have gone up just because the area's gotten a bit more popular, it's like they want us to fail.
I was talking to one of my regulars the other day and he said something that stuck with me, he said the government's always going on about supporting small businesses but when it comes down to it they're just not doing enough, I mean business rates are a huge burden on us and it's not like we can just absorb the cost, we've got to pass it on to the customers and that's just not fair.
Scrap stupid ASBOs already
What's the point of giving someone an Anti-Social Behaviour Order if they're just gonna breach it anyway, I mean come on, it's like slapping a fine on someone who's already clearly not bothered about the law.
I was talking to one of my regulars the other day, a copper, and he said it's just a waste of time and resources, these ASBOs don't actually stop people from causing trouble, they just give them a badge of honour or something. So I reckon we should scrap the whole system and replace it with something that actually works, like proper community service, you know, make them clean up the mess they made or something.
My son was saying the other day that it's all about being tough on crime, but I think that's just a load of old rubbish, what we need is to be smart on crime, you know, actually think about what's gonna stop people from being a nuisance in the first place.
Give Small Pubs a Break
I was talking to my regulars the other day and one of them mentioned how his mate's pub in Sutton Coldfield is struggling to stay afloat due to high business rates. It's a shame because that pub has been a staple of the community for years, always hosting local events and supporting the footy team.
I've been in the trade for 20 years and I've seen so many good pubs close down because of the same issues, it's like the government doesn't care about small businesses. My own pub is barely scraping by, and I'm worried that if things don't change, I'll have to start letting staff go or worse, close the doors for good.
What we need is a government that's willing to listen to small business owners and give us a break. I'm not asking for much, just a fair deal on business rates and alcohol duty would make a huge difference.
What do you think?
Vote on individual policies, adapt them, or write your own alternative. Good ideas should be tested.