Category Archives: Broadband

Is this the trigger that will get young people interested in politics at last?

Connection lost: apparently a million people in the UK have cut their broadband connection to save money as the cost-of-living crisis bites. What will young people do, deprived of their escape from the harsh truth of life here in the 2020s?

If as many as one million people in the UK have cut off their broadband connections due to the cost-of-living crisis, does it mean disaffected young people are being deprived of their distractions?

A few days ago, in a different article, This Writer mentioned a friend who is a father, and who deplored young people’s refusal to engage in politics.

He said he saw little that interested the young apart from YouTube shorts and TikTok; anything lasting more than 15 seconds bored them, and they had no interest in society because they feel that society has taken everything that makes life worth living away from them.

So they distract themselves with Internet-based escapism.

And then this happens:

As many as one million people in the UK may have cut off their broadband due to the cost-of-living crisis.

It comes after Citizens Advice, a network of charities helping people with legal, debt and consumer advice, warned that mobile and broadband prices could rise by up to 17% this year.

The charity said its survey showed broadband … was becoming out of reach for greater numbers of households.

This should be exactly the kind of prompt that young people need.

They are losing their Internet connection because of government decisions that have pushed prices through the roof.

That alone should demonstrate to young people that just because they aren’t interested in politics, politicians aren’t going to leave them alone.

That’s if anybody actually stops to explain it to them.

And, presumably, if that explanation can be made in less than 15 seconds.

Source: One million in UK ‘switch off broadband due to cost of living crisis’

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Never mind the Budget: you’ll be paying a lot more in April with less cash

Brace yourself for another attack on your wallet.

Even if you receive benefits that are going to be uprated in line with the lowest possible level of inflation the government thinks it can get away with, it probably won’t cover the increases in your costs.

Rises to the different level of the minimum wage certainly won’t. It’s not a living wage, despite being called that by Tories.

Let’s have a look at what’s coming:

Council tax to rise

The majority of households in England will be hit by a whopping 5% in April in fresh cost of living misery for families. Three struggling councils have been given special permission by the Government to impose higher rises – up to 10% for Thurrock and Slough, and an eye-watering 15% for Croydon.

Band D properties will pay around an extra £100 if they don’t receive any discounts.

Water bills to increase

From April, average water bills will again increase by less than inflation, meaning prices will continue their decade-long fall in real terms. Bills will rise by an average of £31 to £448 a year (equivalent to around 60p more each week)

Support for low-income households is also being increased to its highest level ever. More than 1 million households already receive help with water bills, which is being increased to 1.2 million over coming months.

Wages will increase

The National Living Wage and National Minimum wage will rise for all kinds of workers across the country. Depending on your age and work status, you will receive one of the following increases:

  • National Living Wage – Increased to £10.42 (annual increase of 9.7 per cent)

  • 21-22-year-old rate – Increased to £10.18 (annual increase of 10.9 per cent)

  • 18-20-year-old rate – Increased to £7.49 (annual increase of 9.7 per cent)

  • 16-17-year-old rate – Increased to £5.28 (annual increase of 9.7 per cent)

  • Apprentice Rate – Increased to £5.28 (annual increase of 9.7 per cent)

  • Accommodation Offset – Increased to £9.10 (annual increase of 4.6 per cent)

Broadband and mobile bills will increase

From April, broadband and mobile phone customers can expect to face monthly bill increases of at least 14% from April.

Providers link their annual price rises to January’s consumer price index (CPI) or the retail price index (RPI) which was 10.5% and 13.4%. BT, EE, Plusnet and Vodafone broadband contracts allow prices to go up by CPI plus 3.9%. At TalkTalk, it is CPI plus 3.7%, while Shell Energy can add CPI plus 3%. Sky and Virgin Media contracts allow mid-contract price increases but they do not stipulate a pricing formula in the same way as rivals.

Universal Credit, PIP and pension to increase

Inflation-linked benefits and tax credits will rise by 10.1% from April 2023, in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation in September 2022. Jeremy Hunt said the ‘expensive commitment’ worth £11 billion means 10 million working-age families will see a much-needed increase next year and, on average, a family on universal credit will benefit next year by around £600.

The benefit cap will rise from £23,000 to £25,323 for families in Greater London and from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally. Lower caps for single households without children will rise from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London and from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally.

Benefits which will rise by 10.1% include Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Disability Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.

Source: Cost of Living: 5 big changes coming into effect in April that everyone should know about

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Why is it okay for Labour to pledge cheap broadband now, when making it FREE under Corbyn was ‘communism’?

Keir Starmer online: his broadband usage is subsidised by his publicly-funded expenses claim, one expects.

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is tying itself in knots again:

A Labour government would enforce a cheap broadband tariff for low-income families as well as taking action on mid-contract price hikes, the shadow culture secretary will announce.

Labour will say broadband is an essential utility and that figures from the regulator Ofcom show almost a third of households (8 million) are having problems paying their broadband, phone and streaming bills. That is double the number a year ago.

In a policy launched on Thursday, Labour will say there must be an industry-wide social tariff for low-income families, negotiated by industry players such as Openreach, which runs the UK’s broadband network, with Ofcom and consumer groups.

The party will say that a failure to agree a tariff would mean a Labour government setting one and legislating to enforce it.

Universal credit claimants can already qualify for some heavily discounted broadband deals from some providers but the schemes are not well publicised or understood. There is no requirement for telecoms providers to offer social tariffs for broadband products.

Labour analysis suggests customers who are eligible for a social tariff could save an average of £250.32 a year.

The party has said it will also reverse changes that now allow wholesale broadband prices to rise with the rate of inflation, rather than costs, meaning that providers have had a £1.7bn windfall.

So Jeremy Corbyn was right – again – but Starmer’s cronies, being right-wing profit-grubbers, want to make sure someone can still make a fast buck out of the rest of us.

So they say the poorest of us may have cheap broadband (because that way the providers will at least get something from people who have next to nothing) – and the rest can pay the full whack.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves got short shrift when she tried to big up the policy:

Damo is right.

If broadband is a modern necessity, then it should be provided by the state, in the same way that necessities like water, power, and public transport should be run by the state.

That’s what the Labour Party should stand for but Starmer’s crew doesn’t. That’s why they are such a poor alternative even to the Tories under Liz Truss.

Source: Labour pledges cheap broadband tariff for low-income families | Broadband | The Guardian

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