Global energy crisis sets fuel and food prices soaring

Sometimes it is the little things that sound the alarm.

The media had been warning for several days about rising living costs, but it was only when I realised that my favourite cake, the delicious Madeleine, had gone up from £1.80 per packet to £2.20, or in some stores £2.50, that I heard the bells.

Now they are ringing loud and clear and the message is scary: UK Inflation is rising at its fastest rate in 30 years and prices are indeed soaring.

The day after my Madeleine epiphany, I received a notice from my water supplier saying my annual bill was increasing from £144 to £192 per year – not a huge amount overall but a marked jump of 30 per cent.

I still depend on snail mail for occasional communications, and stopping off at the Post Office, I discovered that a first class stamp had risen by 10 pence to 95p. On the same day, my local daily paper also went up 10p to £1.05.

Then came the big whammy: a polite letter from British Gas told me that my gas bill would increase from £512 per year to £1,047 or more than double. Ouch and double ouch!

Yet to come are bills for electricity, council tax to pay for local services, and National Insurance charges to fund the Health Service, all sure to be higher than hitherto.

The main cause of our woes, it seems, is the rising global price of energy, which is affecting companies across the whole economy. There are a host of reasons for the upsurge, including a surge of demand for energy as business gets going again after the lifting of Covid restrictions, plus the potential restriction of Russian gas supplies linked to the war in Ukraine.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has warned that the Ukraine situation could have “major repercussions for the global economy” and push energy, petrol and food costs even higher.

The spiralling of petrol prices is already being reflected in the increased use of e-scooters, those bright orange, stand-on vehicles powered by electric motors, now seen on many city streets.

E-scooter provider Neuron reported that over a 17-day period in March, in one northeast area, petrol prices rose by 8 per cent while e-scooter trips rose by 9 per cent. Surveys showed that 31 per cent of e-scooter trips were replacing short car journeys.

Choices

On a day to day basis, some families are having to choose between cooking food and staying warm. One mother said, “When we have had our evening meal, I turn the heating off and we go to bed early with a hot water bottle and an extra blanket.”

Another said, “We examine every bill we get to see if there is a way of cutting back. We hardly go out any more and we dropped our plans for a holiday abroad.”

Many low-income individuals or families resort to food banks, where bread, vegetables, canned foods and the like are available free or at little cost. Some 2.5 million people used food banks in 2020/21, an increase of some 6,000 over the previous year.

This figure is certain to have shot up as a result of the latest crisis.

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We have an adage here that everyone knows: “Ne’er cast a clout till May be out.” In other words, “Don’t take off any item of clothing (a clout) until the month of May is over.”

Or, according to another version… until the white hawthorn flower, known as May blossom, has come out on the country’s hedgerows.

Whichever version you prefer, the writer was clearly sending a warning about the treacherous nature of our spring weather. And so it proved this year.

We had a run of gorgeous weather in March, warm, sunny days tempting us to think that Spring had truly sprung. But April, according to the poet “the cruellest month,” brought a sharp downward turn, with snow and sleet and night-time temperatures two degrees below zero.

The sage knew whereof he spoke.

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Last of our list of silly headlines: Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Many Dead.

Last of the silly notices: If you cannot read, this leaflet will tell you how to get lessons.

Finally, a look at how domestic fights begin:

The husband was surfing the TV channels. Wife: “What’s on TV?” Husband: “Dust.” And that’s how the fight started.

Wife: “Honey, what do you love most about me – my body or my face?” Husband: “Your sense of humour.” And that’s how the fight started.

Wife, staring into a mirror: “I look awful, wrinkled, fat and old.” Husband; “At least you’ve got perfect eyesight.” And that’s how the fight started.

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FOOTNOTE: If you did not know already, Madeleines are small, shell-shaped sponge cakes named for their long-ago inventor, Madame Madeleine, and made famous by the French novelist, Monsieur Marcel Proust.

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