PM: ‘Challenging’ winter lies ahead
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 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.
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 Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The OECD’s latest forecasts suggest the UK economy will shrink 0.4% in 2023 and grow by just 0.2% in 2024. Germany is the only other G7 country set to see a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) next year, with a 0.3% drop.
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.”
Oliver Dowden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, discussed some of the work “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, his 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,” the spokesman said. “While we are preparing for all eventualities, we are confident that we will continue to have good provision throughout the winter months.”
It came as National Grid’s energy systems arm issued a warning that electricity supply might be tight in Britain yesterday evening. However, within half an hour, the company had cancelled the warning. The grid issues such warnings several times a year when the difference between the supply of electricity and demand for it is expected to be small, but the warnings are often dropped rapidly and “do not mean that electricity supply is at risk,” National Grid says on its website.
▪ Downing Street urged rail unions not to take further action, as the RMT warned it is “highly likely” more strikes will be called, after accusing employers of refusing to make an offer aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.