Comments by "Ash Roskell" (@ashroskell) on "The “predatory” companies profiting from UK cost of living crisis | Economics | New Statesman" video.

  1. Would you all just write to your well meaning MP’s and, after urging them to read Frankie’s articles for the broadsheets, and his monologues from the end of each New World Order episode, tell them: if they REALLY want CHANGE in Britain, they must STOP dumping these massive numbers on people and give us clear EXAMPLES of how they rip us off! Because I just want to scream at some of these very nice, kind, well meaning MP’s! It’s the examples that get everyone baying for blood. If you’re old enough to remember the drip drip effect of the MP’s Expenses Scandal, you’ll know what I mean. No one remembers the name of the MP now, or how much he charged us, the tax payers, but literally EVERYONE who heard about it, remembers that some grifting, entitled SOB charged us real money to maintain a MOAT around his DUCK ISLAND! And then, “defended,” himself by calling the angry British public, “just jealous,” for wanting him to give that money back! THAT was what sold papers and CHANGED Britain (though not as much as the public were conned into believing) and THAT is what we need now! If this woman wants us to join the fight for REAL change, then she needs to show us, “This is how your bank/service provider/supermarket makes YOU poorer and entraps YOU into poor economic decision making.” Examples, Examples, EXAMPLES!!! People were not shocked at, “how much,” Boris spent on paintings and wall paper for Downing Street. They were shocked that THEY were paying for it! They were not shocked at his parties (not even surprised, probably? I wasn’t.) they were appalled by the EXAMPLES of people being sick down the walls and dancing like it’s 1999 on the very EVE OF PRINCE PHILIP’S FUNERAL! And some of those c**ts will now be getting KNIGHTHOODS from that dead guy’s son! That’s going to be awkward! But EXAMPLES like THAT make the British public ask, “WHY TF should I be PAYING for this out of MY POCKET???” This issue is the same. That’s why Martin Lewis went from, “niche,” Radio 4 broadcaster to public figure and member of every financial body and watchdog in Europe practically over night. Because he gave SPECIFIC EXAMPLES of the rip offs, how they work, and what to do about them and everyone listened! EXAMPLES!
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  2. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION: Examples, examples, EXAMPLES . . . PLEASE!? Draw less attention to the profits themselves (these are just vast numbers that people see, hear and read all the time and don’t sink in without a hook, a context; a working EXAMPLE) and instead, draw attention to HOW they are making those profits in the simplest terms. If people are told, “Your supermarket/bank/service provider is exploiting your need by doing X or Y, knowing you cannot afford alternatives, whilst actively making YOU poorer,” then that hits home, HARD. I’m tired of hearing reports about how the government’s own figures show a £21 BILLION POUND deficit due to waste, corruption and fraud, without ANY examples! Even though the main stream press (including the BBC!) don’t seem all that interested in this HORRIFIC revelation. People just tut and shake their heads. But give them some context, like they did over the expenses scandals a decade or so ago, and the public will be baying for BLOOD, as they did then! No one remembers, “how much it cost,” but EVERYONE remembers that an MP charged the public for a MOAT FOR HIS DUCK ISLAND and then said we were, “just jealous,” when we complained about it! THAT is how you get change! Just look at how people reacted to Johnson’s Party-gate scandal at first, and then how attitudes changed? A lot of shrugging and, “Oh well, that’s Boris for you,” quickly turned into horror and demands for ACTION once people started getting EXAMPLES of what happened at these parties, what people said and did about them, and the Tories made it worse for themselves by excusing and dismissing them, giving further context for people to be horrified at! The lies are what ostensibly cost Johnson his job, but it was EXAMPLES that made the public so angry and brought about that pressure for redress.
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  3. I just want to grab these well meaning politicians by the scruff of their jackets and scream into their faces, “Give them EXAMPLES!” Everyone’s eyes glaze over once you start talking numbers. I’ve seen it! The BBC is not even bothering to report that the government’s OWN FIGURES on, “waste, corruption and fraud,” from inside government institutions has QUADRUPLED in two years, to a staggering £21 BILLION POUNDS! But once you start giving EXAMPLES literally everyone sits up and pays REAL attention. Remember the MP’s Expenses scandals that were in every paper for about two years, roughly 15 years ago or so? No one recalls the name of the MP or the amount he charged the public purse, but EVERYONE remembers that he charged us for a MOAT for his DUCK ISLAND! And THAT’S what made everyone so angry! No one really cared that much about Boris’s Party-Gate scandal, until they got EXAMPLES of how they were literally vomiting up expensive red wines down the walls of Number 10 Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral! You only need a few good EXAMPLES and the dismissals and excuses people make for their theft will enrage the public sufficiently to bring about ACTUAL CHANGE! Well meaning MP’s have got to STOP counting every bean and seeing the issues from an MP’s perspective and say, “Here is exactly HOW your bank/supermarket/service provider is directly making YOU poorer by ripping you off with THIS PRECISE EXAMPLE!” That’s how Martin Lewis got everyone’s attention over the last year. He was, “niche,” and only known to us Radio 4 listeners before then. Now everyone knows who he is because he gives us plain, practical EXAMPLES of how we’re being ripped off and what we can do about it! And I would advise ANYONE who’s writing to their MP about this stuff to BEG them to give EXAMPLES, EXAMPLES, EXAMPLES and FFS STOP just giving us numbers! I would also urge them to read the complete works of Frankie Boyle, starting with his articles for the broadsheets, and his New World Order monologues at the end of each show, but that’s another matter entirely.
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