Pump it up:
Rising UK fuel costs must seem like a gift to any party in opposition. We have a government and an economy in near free fall (If the press is to be believed?) as the cost of world energy steeply rises.
The parties not running the country can enjoy making a lot of noise as to what a bad job New Labour are doing with our economy, but a small voice at the back of their minds must surely be saying ‘thank goodness it is not us in power’ for in this situation there isn’t a magic potion which any government could offer to make things better.
SNP voters might manage to make Scotland independent, we may then fully enjoy our oil and green energy initiatives, but as history shows being a small oil rich country is not always such a good idea if you have an envious gas guzzling bigger country looking on - invasion comes to mind!
We now have a credit crunch rather than a recession. Banks have fallen on their own swords of greed lending vast amounts of money to people who couldn't afford to pay it back. Whilst they sort out the ensuing mess they have all but closed their doors on new borrowing, however, a strong part of their business is making money through lending so it is only a matter of time before they welcome the first time again or surely must close their mighty doors for good?
Meanwhile everyone is hit with rising fuel costs, and as this effects just about everything we consume, the cost of living will rise... sharply.
In the past low fuel costs meant we could afford to have a high number of our consumable goods reach us from around the globe - this will have to change. The green beans in the supermarket need to come from Nairn rather than Kenya. The giant American fridge will stay on the electrical stores shelves. The 4 x 4’s will rust on the garage forecourts. We may the last generation who freely traveled the globe by aircraft? And so the ‘take it for granted’ list goes on.
Change will happen and as not many people like change this will cause massive problems for future governments. As a society we need to plan further than the current five years in office of our democratic choice - we will need long term planning.
For those of us living in Nairn we have a beautiful environment from which we have little real need to escape (Holidays?) and the buy local necessity might even see the likes of local industries revive - Nairn lemonade anyone? (Phoenix brand of course)
Rising UK fuel costs must seem like a gift to any party in opposition. We have a government and an economy in near free fall (If the press is to be believed?) as the cost of world energy steeply rises.
The parties not running the country can enjoy making a lot of noise as to what a bad job New Labour are doing with our economy, but a small voice at the back of their minds must surely be saying ‘thank goodness it is not us in power’ for in this situation there isn’t a magic potion which any government could offer to make things better.
SNP voters might manage to make Scotland independent, we may then fully enjoy our oil and green energy initiatives, but as history shows being a small oil rich country is not always such a good idea if you have an envious gas guzzling bigger country looking on - invasion comes to mind!
We now have a credit crunch rather than a recession. Banks have fallen on their own swords of greed lending vast amounts of money to people who couldn't afford to pay it back. Whilst they sort out the ensuing mess they have all but closed their doors on new borrowing, however, a strong part of their business is making money through lending so it is only a matter of time before they welcome the first time again or surely must close their mighty doors for good?
Meanwhile everyone is hit with rising fuel costs, and as this effects just about everything we consume, the cost of living will rise... sharply.
In the past low fuel costs meant we could afford to have a high number of our consumable goods reach us from around the globe - this will have to change. The green beans in the supermarket need to come from Nairn rather than Kenya. The giant American fridge will stay on the electrical stores shelves. The 4 x 4’s will rust on the garage forecourts. We may the last generation who freely traveled the globe by aircraft? And so the ‘take it for granted’ list goes on.
Change will happen and as not many people like change this will cause massive problems for future governments. As a society we need to plan further than the current five years in office of our democratic choice - we will need long term planning.
For those of us living in Nairn we have a beautiful environment from which we have little real need to escape (Holidays?) and the buy local necessity might even see the likes of local industries revive - Nairn lemonade anyone? (Phoenix brand of course)
1 comment:
Dig your bike out and buy a sailing boat. They're the only way to travel.
In fact, very shortly they might literally be the only way to travel:)
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