Bills will be final straw for many
The huge and unaffordable cost of living increases, especially of household energy bills which could double to £2,000 a year by next April, have the power to destroy this Tory Government. But Labour must capitalise and loudly proclaim what they would do to alleviate fuel poverty, which is affecting so many families and pensioners in this country.
They must force the Government to remove VAT and all levies – green or otherwise – from fuel bills immediately.
So much for Boris Johnson’s promises on levelling up. In 2022 we will more likely reach the peak of an icy cold mountain of poverty.
Steve Chapman, Milton Keynes Bucks
Following the Second World War, Britain had to be rebuilt structurally and economically. We’re virtually in the same position now after two years of coronavirus, with more disease on the horizon. Our national debt is now 100% of GDP and this is going to be a major factor regarding future borrowing. This year, working people – and the vulnerable in particular – will be facing crushing energy bills, high taxation and soaring inflation.
Clearly life cannot continue as it is and our society needs a rethink to protect those who simply will be unable to cope. Labour rebuilt our country after the war and Keir Starmer’s team promise to do the same if elected.
Bill Cook, Teignmouth, Devon
What have the Tories done to this country? The NHS is on its knees, the cost of living is sky high, energy prices are soon going to be out of reach for ordinary working people and food bank use has never been so high.
What more proof does the British public need to see that the Tories will never help the working class? The rich all get their own way and still don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
Wake up, Britain, before we have no NHS and too many choosing between heating and eating.
Fred Stones, Barnsley, South Yorks
Isn’t it about time the Government renationalised the power companies? With prices set to double to an unaffordable £2,000 per year, the Government must act fast or many households will be unable to pay for their power.
With so many small energy companies having failed, the remaining firms should be brought back under public control to stop them from over-charging.
Surely, it’s in the national interest for them to be taken over?
Alan Bryan, Walsall, West Mids
The cost of living crisis hasn’t even begun to bite, but it will soon and could yet be the undoing of Johnson’s government.
However, the Tories won’t lift a finger to help working people because it goes against their free market ideology, but once the middle classes begin to feel the pinch, then we might start to see a real opportunity for change.
There may yet be a glimmer of hope to come out of this hardship. G Crossley, Sale, Gtr Manchester
Inflation soaring, council tax going up, energy bills massively on the rise and a hike in National Insurance contributions from April. What have we got to look forward to in 2022? Doom and gloom, as far as I can see. Every working family in Britain will be suffering.
M Dhanda, Coventry
This cost of living crisis is unsustainable, especially for the elderly and poor, while the living standards of those in the middle will also be hit. If no help is forthcoming, I predict a wave of civil unrest.
Bob Vaughan, Wigan