I have written to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer backing calls for the UK Government to produce a fourth budget with more support for people impacted by the cost of living crisis, which has seen inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%, and immediately restore the £20 Universal Credit uplift cut earlier this year for low paid workers.
My letter came after speaking in a Labour Business debate on cost of living support in the Scottish Parliament and echoed recent calls made by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said he was “shocked by the fact that so many families and so many children are going to be forced into poverty during this winter, despite Chancellor Sunak’s proposals last month.”
The Tories are quite happy to help the rich but not the poor with their plans to relax limits on city bosses’ pay and the removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift as evidence of the UK Government’s focus on “more money to the rich while the poor suffer.”
Energy costs spiralling out of control are the reason for the crisis, not wages that have stagnated over a number of years. I fear greater inflation as we go forward, and even greater pressures.
I have written to every MSP in the Scottish Parliament, urging them to also contact the Prime Minister and Chancellor and call for a fourth budget
It is clear that the support being extended by the UK Government is already not going far enough before the worst of this crisis has revealed itself – the Tories must act now to stop even more people falling into poverty.
I find it entirely unacceptable that we are being warned that five million children across the UK will be in poverty this winter in one of the wealthiest countries in the world while the Tories focus on removing money from the poorest in society and helping their friends in the city rake in more.
The Prime Minister’s priorities have always been questionable but the lack of action on this crisis demonstrates just how out of touch with the needs of the public he really is.
Even his own backbench MPs, such as David Davis, are calling for the £20 Universal Credit uplift to be restored.
We have heard Tories bemoan the support given during the pandemic, saying it has raised the public’s expectations of Government intervention in times of trouble.
I would argue it has simply demonstrated the tools at the Government’s disposal to support the public if they are willing and exposed the depths of Tory inaction by comparison.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor must act now – an immediate first step would be to restore the £20 Universal Credit uplift, which was a lifeline for so many during the pandemic, before bringing forward a fourth budget that contains the support the people of the UK need to survive.
The issue is about targeted support and how we deliver it, and I am urging the Government to act now to support the millions already struggling to get by.
That is why I have written to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor calling for a fourth budget and written to my colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to urge them to do the same.
We must set aside party politics and be united in supporting people across the UK through this hardship.
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Letter-from-Alex-Rowley-MSP-to-the-Prime-Minister-Cost-of-Living-Support-27-June-2022
