Union bosses demand Rishi Sunak delivers emergency budget to get families through cost of living crisis
01.04.2022 - 06:57
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Rishi Sunak should come back with an emergency budget to get families through the cost of living crisis, trade unionists have demanded.
The Trades Union Congress said pay and benefits will be “swallowed up” by higher bills and inflation, with households hit with crippling new energy bills as the price cap rises on Friday morning.
Frances O’Grady, the TUC leader, said working families are at “breaking point” because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Energy regulator Ofgem will lift the energy cap on Friday meaning that energy bills will rise by £693 a year at the beginning of April, going up from £1,278 to £1,971 for the average user with a further rise in due in October.
Benefits rates will increase by 3.1 per cent but this is half of the inflation rate meaning a real terms cut for millions.
The uplift in the legal minimum wage in April, which will benefit around 174,000 Scottish employees, will put £1,000 a year more into full-time workers’ pay packets but unions argue this will not ease the cost of living pressures.
O'Grady added: “This is a living standards emergency. Rishi Sunak must come back to Parliament and present an emergency budget. We need a proper package of economic support for families.
“Britain faces the worst living standards crisis in generations. We need an emergency budget to bring down energy bills and to boost pay, Universal Credit and pensions.”
The TUC added that the Chancellor should announce further support for public services and energy intensive businesses to help them deal with sharp rises in costs.
The union body said measures announced in the Chancellor’s spring statement last week were “woefully inadequate” in the face of the worst living standards crisis in generations.
The TUC estimated that