I doubt that’s why it was created. But now it exists and it’s a Chinese company. And I think there’s a two relevant things here:
It would surprise me if the CCP were not using TikTok as a weapon at this point. It’s such a potentially powerful tool and it’s right there for them to use.
Obviously the CCP isn’t going to advertise it so I wouldn’t expect any evidence. However I think it’s a long way from ‘tinfoil hat’ because I think it’s more likely to be happening that it isn’t.
There’s no real rule of law in China though, it’s in effect an absolute dictatorship. The ministry of state security does whatever it wants.
Than the Chinese state? Really?
The reason we have any track record of our governments doing anything is precisely because we have a democracy that has some resemblance of transparency and accountability.
The reason we have nothing on the Chinese state is because they are a dictatorship and you’d never know what they are doing.
If you are going to stick to just the literal definition then it doesn’t meet that at all because Chinese state security acting to spy on the west etc wouldn’t be a ‘conspiracy’ (a small group subverting normal power structures). It’s a government institution fully supported by the Chinese state doing what it’s supposed to do.
I still am, the point is that’s not a conspiracy by definition. A government spying on foreign powers doesn’t fit the definition of a conspiracy.
Is it not factored into the unit price instead?
Can’t imagine paying 26p with no sc attached 
Why?
Exactly this. I’m sure very few people will be better off when you move to a tariff with no standing charges. They’ll price it for holiday homes etc who barely use anything for 46 weeks a year.
Not necessarily. I never, ever, in 4 years have put my heating on. Even if they whacked up the unit prices I shouldn’t be paying £38-45 a month for zero heating and just the hot water. It’s not just those who don’t use their homes; it’s us who just don’t use the heating.
The network is a part of their business. It’s the cost of running an energy firm. I don’t pay Tesco specifically for their lights. Or staff. It’s something for them to consider as a business cost and factor into their prices.
What other business do we separate a specific part of business cost and itemise it differently? It’s an oddity that for some reason we accept just because.
It’s like when overdraft fees became fair and now we all pay 40%.
The Utilita Smart tariff has a higher initial rate and then a lower rate following, which probably comes in cheaper than the standing charge plans.
It’s only on PAYG though.
Edit: doing the math, isn’t that significantly cheaper (saving about 60p a day instantly?)
The day you do, you’ll be graced with the smell of burning for weeks 
It’s a new build and they retain heat very well. 8 floors up and the heat from below keeps our flat warm. It’s horrible in the summer mind you.
The heating has only ever come on for annual testing when they come around. It’s probably a 5 minute job.
If I’m cold ever I close the window and have a blanket but it’s rarely so cold it’s actually necessary.
My standing charge was 50% of my bill in July!
I really don’t see the issue with standing charges. Electricity and gas costs are quite clearly divided between the generation/extraction costs and the cost of delivery to individual properties.
If you’re wanting your bill to be restructured but essentially pay the same amount and cover the costs of supplying the electricity you use… it all seems more hassle than it’s worth to me. The bottom line on the bill will be the same.
If you’re saying that you only use a tiny amount of electricity, you don’t care about the cost of delivering it your property, and you want to be a loss making customer… erm. I just don’t get it. Why would you ever be entitled to that?
The Tesco analogy is a bad one. They can pick and choose where they want their stores. Their customers can pick and choose where they go.
A better example would be telephony or broadband, where line rental and usage charges are often separated. Water is similar, if I remember rightly.
Perhaps other examples would be public transport, but my understanding is that this is quite heavily funded by taxation (roughly equivalent to the standing charge) with tickets for each journey (roughly equivalent to metered usage)?
Back to Tesco, if I want them to deliver to me, I would expect a fixed delivery charge, plus whatever I need to pay for goods on top? Again, this feels like a standing charge plus usage to me?
Because I have to have gas. And electric. I don’t even have a choice for my gas supplier.
I don’t want to be a loss making customer. Charge me for my usage. Adjust the usage charges to cover your costs. It’s not difficult. There’s no entitlement. Not sure if you meant to sound combative there but it sounds like you misread my post/tone completely.
For what it’s worth energy should be nationalised in my opinion but I still maintain that there are business costs related to forming an energy company and the cost of the network maintenance is one of them.
My water bill is one cost. No separation. I choose not to have a landline, so that is again a choice people can make.
If I want Tesco delivery, absolutely charge me. I can choose not to. I cannot choose not to have a gas supply, no matter how little I use it. It’s not comparable to say that.
I’m not sure what you took from my post, but I’m not expecting my bill to be £6 a month. It should be higher. But it should be linked to the cost of the energy I’m using, not a fixed amount that regardless of my usage I get charged. In any business there are loss leaders and some folk will use less energy than others - you can never eradicate it completely. But if you’re simply relying on a fixed charge then there’s literally no way for me to bring my energy costs down and I’m stuck paying for a service I barely use. If the standing charge is the cost of delivering energy to a property then I’m effectively subsidising those who use a lot of energy because their standing charge is the same as mine. Sorry but I really disagree that this is a fair system.
I had no idea that you could get bread as a prescription.
Excellent if you’re in Scotland or Wales with no fees.
In England £9.65 prescription is almost on par with buying a GF Promise loaf.
As an aside my GF bread is about £1.20 a loaf!
