The following report is by The Trends Journal:
When wars are fought, the little guy suffers while the Bigs get bigger.
Residents living in the United Kingdom have turned out to be an economic casualty from the Ukraine War as a recent report showed the biggest drop in living standards on record, while Britain continues to pump Ukraine with billions and imposes sanctions on Russia.
The U.K.’s Office of Budget Responsibility, a watchdog group, issued a report on Wednesday that revealed a drop of 5.7 percent in real household disposable income over the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, according to RT, a Russian news outlet.
Residents there have been hit with a painful combination of higher energy and consumer goods prices. The 5.7 percent is less than was forecast but represents the “largest two-year fall since records began in 1955-57.”
The watchdog said the fall in standards can be blamed on the jump in energy prices and other tradable goods of which the “UK is a net importer, resulting in inflation being above nominal wage growth.”
The inflation rate in the U.K. hit 10.1 percent in January while pay growth came in at 5.9 percent between October and December year-on-year. Why did inflation rise? Mostly because of the sanctions that politicians put on Russia that has caused surging energy prices.
Times will be tough for a while. The report said living standards will not reach pre-pandemic levels until 2028.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how the Western effort to choke Russia economically has failed.
Economists expect a 0.2 percent drop in U.K. gross domestic product in 2023, followed by a slight increase of 0.9 percent in 2024. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said global growth is projected to remain at below-trend rates in 2023 and 2024, at 2.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, “with policy tightening continuing to take effect. Nonetheless, a gradual improvement is projected through 2023-24 as the drag on incomes from high inflation recedes.”
Kantar, the data analytics in the U.K., said grocery prices rose 17.1 percent in the four weeks to 19 February, compared with the same period last year, which is the highest level since tracking in 2008, CNN reported. The report said it is equivalent to adding an extra $980 to a household’s average yearly grocery bill.
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, met with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month and vowed continued support for Ukraine despite both men facing domestic issues. (Macron has faced major protests over plans to increase the retirement age in France so the country remains solvent.)
Besides these economic hardships at home, both countries continue to provide billions to Ukraine in weapons. The U.K. has provided Ukraine with $5.1 billion in weapons and France has contributed about $3 billion as of 22 February while the U.S. has pledged some $115 billion to Ukraine… as 64 percent of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.
The British Army said last week that it is buying 14 Swedish-made 155mm Archer artillery systems to replenish its artillery systems provided to Ukraine.
“The first 14 Archer artillery systems will have ownership transferred to the British Army this month and be fully operational by next April, forming an interim replacement for the 32 AS90 artillery systems the U.K. gifted to the armed forces of Ukraine,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
In October of last year The WinePress documented that pubs and restaurants were basically forced to keep the lights off and light candles to reduce their energy bills. At the same time other restaurants and small businesses were forced to close, as their energy bills were so astronomically insane; to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases.
This incessant money laundering for Ukraine is judgment on the West by the Lord; and this oppression, famine, destitution, and descension into anarchy will persist because of the U.K.’s and West wickedness.
[28] The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: [29] And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. Deuteronomy 28:28-29
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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