Don't Pay ..Attention

I haven't abandoned my daily posting, though that was a tempting prospect. I've spent a lot of time in work over the last week or so, plus when I was off I came down with a mild case of the flu - ironically given my last post was titled 'eradicating flu' - but no, I'm continuing.

Anyway, I've came back just at the right time as I finally have something to write about. I've been seeing a lot of this "Don't Pay UK" stuff on Twitter and in the media. It's basically a campaign aimed at getting people to not pay their energy bills - a protest in response to the super high energy prices we're seeing at present.

Naturally I'm somewhat suspicious. Who are these people? What are their wider political values?

Yes, we're all worried and unhappy with the rising cost of energy, but is this the right way to go about things? And perhaps more importantly, is there a wider agenda at play?

As far as I can tell the entire social media campaign only began in June. So it's went from nowhere to national in an incredibly short space of time. They're also quite fixated on invoking the spirit of the "Poll Tax" protests. In fact, their very first Instagram post specifically states they're "building the UK's biggest non-payment campaign since the Poll Tax."

This "Poll Tax" line has since been repeated by numerous others, including the TV savings guru Martin Lewis, who's been doing the rounds on the media warning that winter is coming. (I also notice he was speaking on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change YouTube channel - on the same theme, though I haven't watched it. Connecting another dot.)

When I scrolled back through the Don't Pay Twitter feed I also noticed that they'd retweeted tweets from an organisation called "Fuel Poverty Action". I jumped the gun a little on this one on Twitter as I thought it was the first thing Don't Pay had retweeted - my phone wouldn't let me scroll back further annoyingly, so I assumed it was their first tweet, and hence a window into their origins. However, once on my laptop in preparation for this post here I soon realised that the tweets went back further. So not quite the lead I thought it was.

Still, that organisation is campaigning for a band of "free" energy for all households to cover basic needs. Paid for by people who are using "more than they need".

This begs the obvious question of how these things are determined. Who decides what we need? How is this implemented? It doesn't sound a million miles away from things like carbon credits and UBI.

However, for balance I should state that on inspection the online presence of Fuel Poverty Action seems much more genuine and well-established than I'd originally assumed. They have a YouTube channel with just thirty-five subscribers that has videos going back ten years. So I have no reason to suspect they're not sincere campaigners who are passionate about the things they advocate.

I'm all for people openly pushing their solutions, and sceptical though I am I'm happy to hear these ones out and give them consideration. After all, poverty is a real issue, so it's not like everything's tickety-boo.

Returning to Don't Pay their planned mass non-payment begins on October 1st, which is right on cue for the new Prime Minister. The leadership result is announced on September 5th, and the new PM should replace Boris the next day. Meaning they'll be walking into the next "Poll Tax" crisis if Don't Pay UK get their way.

Though I don't quite see Extinction Rebellion faring too well in all out riots.