At the heart of the issue is water scarcity throughout the EU which prompted Lord Carter of Coles to say that governments must allow water costs to rise in order to overcome this problem. As Chairman of the Committee (The Lords Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment subcommittee in the EU), Carter was speaking to Europe as a whole, including the UK.

The Lords Committee issued a report entitled An Indispensible Resource which stated emphatically that urgent and immediate action is needed if the quality and availability of water in European countries and the UK are to be protected. However, contrary to what one would believe, this is not to provide funds to increase the availability of water. Rather, it should be adopted to ‘force’ households into conserving precious resources.

Similar measures had been adopted in the United States, Florida for example, when drought conditions called for water rationing. Not only were households not allowed to water lawns or wash vehicles, but they were also heavily fined if found in violation of these restrictions. This did help curb mindless use of water whilst water tables were restored over time.

Even so, many critics believe other measures should be adopted since families and businesses are already strapped by financial pressures in an area where the debt crisis is extreme. Raising water bills by £20 per year may not seem much, but many households are already operating under negative disposable income budgets.

Supermarkets in the UK have announced a 2p drop in prices per litre of unleaded as well as for diesel in approximately 1,250 locations. Amongst the major chains that have cut costs are Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The motorists group, AA has voiced their delight in these cuts because for months on end prices have been rising well beyond the rate of inflation in other consumables.

As recently as two weeks ago, petrol prices in the UK reached record highs of 147.9p a litre for diesel and only 2p less expensive for unleaded. Now with the recent price wars, consumers are lining up at pumps hoping that this is a trend and not just a bank weekend sale. Even so, this amount of savings will reduce the cost of a tank of petrol for the average family vehicle by about £1.50.

The head of public affairs for the AA stated that this downward movement in prices has come not a moment too soon and that it is the organisation’s hope that the lower prices won’t be stopping at the 2p mark. A spokesperson for Morrisons also noted that these lower prices should help consumers who are ‘cash strapped’ and the trading director for Asda confirmed that petrol prices have been difficult on motorists this year.

Even a 2p reduction in price is welcome news to consumers as this has been an extremely difficult year not only in the cost of petrol but also in energy prices across the board. If all energy including gas and electricity were to drop a bit, households might catch the break they have been waiting for since the push towards austerity has caused an economic crisis for those working families already finding it difficult to survive.

Instead of avoiding spending at the shops, it is important to rethink where money is being spent. It is their consensus that the only way to improve the economy in the UK is to buy products made in Britain. This benefits everyone all the way down from the end consumer to manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers.

Chief economist Simon Wells at HSBC believes that it is all too easy to get disheartened with news such as the current rate of inflation, the lack of jobs and benefits being stripped bare. Wells said there is no reason to panic but as consumers gripped by conditions which are worsening by the day but it is difficult not to fear the future.

In the face of all this adversity there is a way out, according to the HIS Global Insight’s chief UK/European economist Howard Archer. He contends that the solution is simple and that consumers should make every effort to keep their money in the UK. This means buying everything from clothing to major appliances and vehicles from UK producers.

Archer believes that consumers can help lead the way out of recession by spending money here in Britain. Rather than stowing money away for the future, it is better to continue as usual with one main change – buy British. This doesn’t mean buying high end fashions and top of the line electronics. What it means is taking the time to seek out local farmers for produce and purchasing clothing made right here at home. Yes, it will take a bit more time to shop but in the end the money will stay right here to improve our stagnant economy. Austerity isn’t working so it is up to the consumer to put their money where it counts and that is in our own economy.

Although there has been much talk of the potential for sliding backwards into a recession, many consumers don’t quite understand the awful significance of this event. After just having recovered, the UK took a downward turn s the UK GDP shrank 0.3% in the final quarter of 2011 and .03% in the first quarter of this year. This was truly a shock to government as well as economists as they had missed the mark by almost one-half of a percentage point. This is significant that they could have been so far off with their calculations.

So what does this mean for Britons? In effect, a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of decline in the economy. It looks as though government will try to combat this news with increased fervour in their austerity programme. The public sector will most likely try to cut costs even further which means social programmes are likely to lose even more financing and jobs will be cut by the tens of thousands.

Since Britain’s debt is already at record levels, there is mounting pressures on government. It may still be too early to predict what moves the coalition government will make next, but it is almost certain that they will advance austerity measures on a country already plagued with sacrifice. The Prime Minister admitted that recovering from a recession which is the worst in ‘living memory,’ but the Labour shadow chancellor struck back with an “I told you so!”

Labour has always contended that the austerity drive was ‘self-defeating’ with cuts in spending and taxes rising almost by the day. The party further lashed out at David Cameron and George Osborne who they decry as ‘arrogant’ in their nonchalance when they were warned that austerity would lead the nation back into recession. As those predictions have now proven true, all eyes are on Labour to see if they will finally be heard.

With all the flurry of activity in profits warnings in the first quarter of this year, there are still some reservations as to the actual ‘growth’ during that period. Compared year-on-year with last year, the first quarter of 2012 wasn’t much better as there were profit warnings totaling 73 in the first quarter of this year whereas in 2011 there were 75. Nonetheless, the first two months those warnings were at a 3 year high but March saw a dip in warnings to a low not experienced within the past 9 years.

On the flip side, the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) expects the economy in the UK to actually grow over the course of the entire year by 0.8%. Next year the OBR believes the economy will grow by 2% which would be a high not experienced in years. Then there are predictions by Ernst & Young which are a bit lower with projections of a 0.4% growth this year and 1.5% next year.

Alan Hudson of Ernst & Young does predict a growth in retail sales for this year but further said that other sectors will suffer losses, evening out the gains as it were. Mr. Hudson believes that the high cost of oil and uncertainty in the travel industry due to the Olympics are making this an especially hard year to forecast.

Then there were those mothers who had planned on staying home with their infants but had found the need to think twice about not returning to work. Finances during this time of austerity are extremely tight and most husbands are making the money they had counted on to see families through postnatal times. On an average, the mothers who had been surveyed stated that take-home monthly income for the household had been £2,866 but while on maternity leave that income dropped to £1,654.

Accordingly, one-tenth of those surveyed are said to have borrowed money from the relatives and another 14% made use of loans, credit cards and overdrafts to help get them through this time. Again, much of this is due to the fact that inflation is almost out of control and wages have been virtually frozen. In addition, savings are not accumulating interest as they had been just a few short years ago which is further adding to the economic woes of family in the UK.

To make matters even worse, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that UK families with children can potentially lose as much as £511 annually because of changes to benefits and taxes that took place this month. Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, had earlier stated that these changes would have a significant impact on millions of households which could lose eligibility entirely. In his words, it is a “tax credits bombshell.”

In any case, the end result is that working mothers are no longer able to take maternity leave they are entitled to because finances are in such peril. Many families are choosing to wait several years before starting a family simply for this very reason and although government promised that the UK would be Europe’s most family-friendly country these facts indicate that the nation still has a long way to go.

Currently, petrol is at record high this year of 142.48p and diesel at 147.88p per litre. Now a family car with a 50 litre tank will cost over £71 to fill and this is at a time when most households are struggling to keep up with budgets, including putting food on the table for their families.

The amount estimated that two-children families are spending on food per week is just at £70 and that included food items and non-alcoholic beverages. What this means to a family with two vehicles is that they are spending at least £22 extra for filling up than they did just a few short months ago, at the beginning of the year.

The news only gets worse as there are still fears of a petrol tanker strike because talks are failing. Recent news shows that drivers are still queuing up at pumps even though the strike has not happened.  Even so, since there doesn’t seem to be an agreement close at hand, there are still very real worries that the strike could happen at any moment and drivers want to be sure that they have sufficient petrol to tide them over.

According to a spokesperson for AA, Edmund King, households are under what he refers to as ‘intolerable strain’ because of widespread panic over the strike and are not filling up more frequently and spending less on necessities such as food. As a final note, fuel prices remain inordinately high even though the strike has not happened and oil has dropped in price.

It was confirmed by Royal Mail that they are indeed imposing a cap on how many stamps shops could buy because they are claiming that retailers are exceeding their limits. The Shadow Postal Affairs Minister, Ian Murray, has stated his intention to send a letter Ofcom in regards to what he calls “shameless profiteering” by Royal Mail at the public’s expense.

Mr. Murray further claims that the rise in the cost of postage is disproportionate and its impact on low income consumers and small businesses will be significant. He understands that those who will be impacted most would want to stock up on stamps before the announced price rise. He feels that the rationing of stamps prior to the price increase is directly opposed to the spirit in which prices were deregulated by Ofcom.

Other public figures such as Adrian Bailey Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee chairman, has declared that restrictions and rationing is “absolutely outrageous.” He calls this a restriction of trade, but even so it doesn’t appear that anything can be done about the huge increase in price that is still set to take effect at month’s end.

In March it was announced by Royal Mail that first-class stamps would rise from 46p to 60p, which is an increase of 30%. Second-class stamps will go from 36p to 50p which is a rise of 39%. Royal Mail has capped what each retailer can purchase it and they are only being allowed to buy 20% of their annual allocation.

Royal Mail further admitted that they were limiting supplies in order to protect revenues which of course will increase in accordance with higher prices. However, the company did say they would continue discussions with any retailers who feel they have a real need for greater supplies to meet the needs of their customers.

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Citizens Advice will now be champions for consumers with the goal of empowering them to make sound choices in financial matters. To date, Citizens Advice has already replaced the advice line handled by Consumer Direct and by April of next year they will also take on greater responsibilities from the Office of Fair Trading and Consumer Focus, as mentioned above.

Citizens Advice will be in charge of consumer advocacy in sectors which are unregulated but the entirely new Regulated Industries Unit will be in charge of postal services and energy issues in the UK. Currently, the Citizens Advice charity is receiving £20 million annually towards funding their work but with these new duties and additional £10 million will be placed in the fund each year.

In further efforts to safeguard the interests of consumers, there the newly organised National Trading Standards Board will be targeting rogue traders who have been preying on consumers with illegal money lending, internet scams and other crimes which are beyond the boundary of local authorities. Even so, the Trading Standards will still continue with many of the same responsibilities they have been covering to date. These changes are being made in an effort to better protect consumers whilst cutting back on government expenditures.

Meanwhile, while NUT was meeting in Torquay for their annual conference, NASUWT (National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers) were also meeting in Birmingham and this union came to similar resolutions as NUT. Members are asking that the School Teachers’ Review Body do something to promote pay rises based on performance. Both unions are angry with government’s focus on making pay rates reliant on local areas rather than maintaining the national rate.

Movement in the direction of localised pay is being highly contested and teachers’ unions are vowing to strengthen industrial action against government. They are addressing the respective heads of their unions encouraging strong industrial action to make their intentions perfectly clear. Whilst there are a number of protests under consideration, a national strike is within the realm of possibility.

At the heart of the issue at the moment is the fact that a movement in the direction of free schools and academies is totally unacceptable to them. This would mean that salaries would no longer be standardised. They believe that government is looking to reduce pay rates even after two years without a rise and two further years with a miniscule increase in salary of 1%, as mentioned above.

Government appears to be acting against the wishes of parents and teachers which is why efforts are escalating to stop state schools from being turned into academies. The Department of Education gave a warning that strikes would not be beneficial to anyone involved yet teachers unions are adamant that they want to be heard.