Public spending blamed for rising prices

‘Government sleepwalking into a catastrophic election defeat’ if public do not see inflation fixed, poll reveals

‘The more inflation endures, the more voters have begun to ask why the Government is not doing more to fix the problem’

‘Our polling shows that voters do not accept that the Government are blameless when it comes to inflation and the rising cost of living’

VOTERS are turning on the Government and the Bank of England over the cost of living crisis, with almost one in three saying that excessive public spending is “significantly” to blame for high inflation, according to a poll.

A survey of 1,500 people for The Sunday Telegraph found that 29 per cent believed that soaring levels of government spending were more to blame for rising inflation than disruption arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supply chain problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings will fuel concerns among Tory MPs that the party is on course to face a seismic backlash over its handling of the economy, as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak face down demands for tax cuts.

Responding to the poll, one senior Conservative, who has not spoken publicly against Mr Johnson, said: “F---. That is bad.” The MP had previously believed “that the cost of living stuff hasn’t really hit the public yet”.

Ministers have acknowledged that the cost of living crisis was a major concern for voters in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield, the seats lost by the Conservatives last week. Lord Frost, the former Cabinet minister, has warned that the Government has adopted a highspend, high-tax model and called for a “more Conservative” approach.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister said: “I’m focused on what we can do to sort out the cost of living, sort out growth, get this country more productive.”

On Friday, Mr Sunak insisted that he was “determined to continue working to tackle the cost of living”, including by delivering existing plans to lift the threshold at which people start paying National Insurance.

In the same poll, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 59 per cent of people said they disapproved of Boris Johnson’s performance on the economy – up almost 20 percentage points from an equivalent survey seven months ago.

Overall, 54 per cent of people said the Prime Minister should resign – up from 46 per cent in March.

Mr Johnson’s handling of the invasion of Ukraine was the only policy area in which more people approved of his performance than disapproved of it.

But 63 per cent said the Prime Minister’s response to the conflict had not changed their view of Mr Johnson. Meanwhile, 49 per cent said the Bank of England was not doing all it could to bring down inflation, compared to 16 per cent who said it was.

Amid calls for the Bank to increase the base interest rate, more than half (53 per cent) of people said that being able to save more profitably – a benefit of higher interest rates – was more important than borrowing more cheaply – an upside of lower interest rates.

Almost two in three (63 per cent) of respondents said their financial situation had worsened compared to a year ago, while 57 per cent said they had purposefully reduced spending on groceries in response to rising costs.

Philip van Scheltinga, director of research at Redfield & Wilton Strategies, said: “The more inflation endures, the more voters have begun to ask why the Government is not doing more to fix the problem. [Our] latest polling shows that voters do not accept that the Government are blameless when it comes to inflation and the rising cost of living.

“If the Government assumes these issues will go away on its own, without serious concerted action on their part, they will be sleepwalking into a catastrophic election defeat.”

Asked directly about the cost of living crisis, 44 per cent of respondents said it was “preventable”, while 41 per cent said the crisis was inevitable.

Asked which of five factors they would blame the most for the high rate of inflation, 29 per cent selected excessive spending by the UK Government, while 21 per cent opted for disruption caused by the war in Ukraine, 17 per cent selected supply chain problems caused by the pandemic, and 7 per cent believed that low interest rates were most to blame.