Ed Miliband has called the cost-of-living crisis a “social emergency”. With the 18 May CPI inflation figure surging to 9 per cent, he is right. His back-bench Labour colleague Dan Carden spelled out the consequences in the Commons: a 62-year-old constituent in Liverpool Walton had disconnected herself from the mains gas supply for fear of the bill she will receive in a few months.
And it’s not just about energy. Carden told me that, at a local chip shop, the cost of a fish-and-chip supper for one person has gone up to £8.30, largely due to the price of sunflower oil rocketing because of the Ukraine war. With a chippy forced to hike the price every few weeks, the most iconically basic food in Britain is now too expensive for working-class families to eat.
Content from our partners
