The Office for National Statistics has reported that “total and regular pay in the UK fell 2.7% when adjusted for inflation in the three months from August to October”.
Responding to this morning’s news, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
This is just the tip of the iceberg with families facing a nightmarish interest rate rise in just 48 hours time.
A cost of living triple whammy of mortgage hikes, energy bills and tax rises is hitting Britain hard this winter, despite public services crumbling and coming to a near standstill due to this Government’s incompetence. Brits are fair to ask, what exactly are we paying for?
A succession of Conservative Chancellors has driven the economy to the brink of recession, with more and more now worried about their job in the months ahead. A winter of discontent could have been avoided if the Government got to grip with the cost of living crisis sooner. The British public will never forgive the Conservative party for this.
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6 Comments
A situation where the better paid (especially the very well paid – including ministers) are – or should be (if not then they should have known better) – better placed to absorb this financial hit than the less well-paid.
Have we reached a point where the median full-time income is no longer enough to cover basic necessities – food on table, roof over head, warm home etc. – never mind anything more than the basic necessities?
I can’t help feeling that the whole situation is typified by this “Government’s” attitude of saying that energy companies must be allowed to make their profits while the a large number of the electorate are sitting, shivering, in housing that they can’t afford to eat!
Correction to the above: “a large number of the electorate are sitting, shivering, in housing that they can’t afford to heat”.
Not helped by brexit clearly, but the recent shocks are global. According to the Sunday Times inflation is 90% imported and almost all down to Russia’s Ukraine war. We are poorer as a result. The question is, who should pay for the cost of the war?
Russell, The Sunday Times is part of the News Corporation. It’s political position is, like much of the UKs popular press, centre-right and generally supports the Conservative Government.
Might be worth balancing what it would have us believe with something from the centre-left such as The Guardian. Think you might find that the UKs performance is pretty grim when compared with other major economies and that Brexit, and the effects of the trade deals so far negotiated by the UK Government have plaid a big part in where we are economically right now.
@Ian
The ST was quoting Andrew Bailey. Where does the guardian think inflation is coming from?