PM Sunak warns over ‘challenging’ winter
SOARING inflation, strikes and spiralling NHS waiting lists will cause a “challenging” winter, Rishi Sunak has warned, as the UK was forecast to suffer a deeper recession than its allies.
The Prime Minister braced his Cabinet yesterday for misery in the coming months as they discussed how to alleviate the crises.
With nurses voting to strike, Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned the NHS backlog had already been “significantly exacerbated” by the pandemic.
Downing Street said 400,000 people were currently waiting more than 52 weeks for operations, compared with 1,600 before Covid-19 hit.
Food prices and energy bills have soared as inflation hit a 41-year-high of 11.1%, with global fuel prices being forced up by Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The British economy will then contract more than any of the world’s seven most advanced nations in the G7, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Giving an account of the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Looking ahead to winter, the Prime Minister said this would be a challenging period for the country caused by the aftershocks of the global pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.”
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden discussed some of the work planned “to mitigate some of the challenges expected this winter, including further strike action”.
Asked whether the PM was concerned about inflation, strikes and medical appointments, the official spokesman said: “You’ve highlighted some of the issues the public will face and those are some of the areas the Government are trying to mitigate.”
Downing Street said the potential for power blackouts was not discussed but insisted ministers are “preparing for all eventualities”.
“We do have quite a diverse energy provision. Offshore wind continues to provide a huge amount of our energy, particularly during the winter months,” a spokesman said. “While we are preparing for all eventualities, we are confident that we will continue to have good provision throughout the winter months.”