Gordon Brown has demanded that the Government’s disaster committee, Cobra, gets together immediately to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
The former prime minister also called on Parliament to be recalled as the Tory Government has created a “vacuum” with Prime Minister Boris Johnson off on holiday. Brown’s message was last night backed by the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who said the outgoing PM was “missing in action”.
Writing for the Daily Record, Brown said: “Cobra, the Government’s disaster emergency committee, should be in permanent session to deal with the coming fuel and energy crisis.” He called for “urgent measures” to cover the cost of a further £1000-plus rise in fuel bills on top of April’s already painful increases, saying millions were on the brink of poverty.
He added: “The facts are grim: Four in every five pensioners, four in every five single parents and four in every five large families face fuel poverty – that’s when their energy bills come to more than 10 per cent of their weekly incomes. About 35million people in 13.5million households are under threat of fuel poverty in October – that’s an unprecedented 49.6 per cent of the UK.”
He said Cobra needed to convene, adding: “A vacuum exists because the Prime Minister is on holiday, the Chancellor of Exchequer is on holiday and the two leadership candidates for prime minister are on the campaign trail.
“Not enough thinking is being done at the centre of Government about this major social crisis – the biggest issue that we’re facing in the next few weeks. If we let this drag on, by October 1 people will be facing bills they cannot meet without the benefits they need.”
Last week the Bank of England increased interest rates in a bid to combat rising inflation, which is currently at 9.4 per cent and predicted to hit 13 per cent. Families in Scotland are already struggling to get by and it’s expected to get a lot worse, with experts warning energy bills could rise above £4000 a year in January.
The UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, announced the cap will now be reviewed every three months instead of quarterly, which means prices could rise again in October to over £3359 a year. There was also outrage after it emerged last week that while the UK is going through a cost-of-living crisis, Johnson and his Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi went on holiday.
Calling for an urgent return of MPs to Westminster, Blackford said: “Every day people are waking up to warnings that the Tory-made cost of living crisis is spiralling out of control, with each report more worrying than the last. Yet the UK Prime Minister is missing in action.”
He added: “Boris Johnson might be on his way out, and rightly so, but for now he is still the Prime Minister, with duties to protect the people who live here. He must come out of hiding and recall Parliament immediately so MPs can get around the table to figure out how best to support people through this cost-of-living crisis.”
Blackford also took a swipe at Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who said hard-up families will have to wait until the Tory leadership contest is over until they can get more cost of living help. The two contenders to take over from Johnson have offered little assistance to get people through the tough couple of months ahead.
Truss, who is the favourite to win, rejected “handouts” and instead said tax cuts will be implemented despite it raising the possibility of increasing inflation even more. Sunak said he would “do more” to help families who could get an extra payment worth up to £300 this winter.
Blackford said: “People cannot wait another several weeks for the next prime minister to be installed for financial support, as the completely out of touch UK Business Secretary suggests. People need help now.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We understand that people are struggling with rising prices. We have acted to protect the eight million most vulnerable British families through at least £1200 of direct payments this year. And there will be additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits.
“Through our £37billion support package we are also saving the typical employee more tan £330 a year through a tax cut in July. We are also allowing people on Universal Credit to keep £1000 more of what they earn and cutting fuel duty by 5p, saving a typical family £100.”
Another Budget would fill in gaps left by last one, says former Prime Minister Gordon Brown
COBRA – the UK Government’s disaster emergency committee – should be in permanent session to deal with
the coming fuel and energy crisis. Even if Boris Johnson has gone on holiday, his deputies should be negotiating to buy new oil and gas supplies from other countries and urgently creating the extra storage capacity we currently lack.
We should be persuading homes and buildings – as Germany is now doing – to cut back on energy usage wherever possible in the hope we can prevent formal rationing. Most of all, Johnson and the two Tory leadership candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, should be getting together to plan and, despite their differences, agree an immediate Budget to prevent a winter heating catastrophe.
About 100 organisations and individuals – from metro mayors and the Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford to 60 faith leaders – have come together to expose the financial time-bomb that will explode on families in eight weeks on October 1. With millions standing on the edge of a financial precipice, we call for urgent measures to cover the cost of a further £1000-plus rise in fuel bills on top of April’s already painful increases.
The facts right now are grim: Four in every five pensioners, four in every five single parents and four in every five large families face fuel poverty – that’s when their energy bills come to more than 10 per cent of their weekly incomes. About 35million people in 13.5million households are under threat of fuel poverty in October – that’s an unprecedented 49.6 per cent of the UK.
There are big regional variations. The fuel poor will range from 48 per cent in London to 60.8 per cent in Wales, 62 per cent in Scotland and 72 per cent in Northern Ireland. If nothing is done before another price rise in January, the fuel poor could rise to 39million people in 15million households – 54 per cent of the country.
For pensioners, one third of the statutory pension will be taken up paying fuel bills. Even before this crisis, 40 per cent of children were already going without what is needed to have a decent living standard. Soon we estimate every second child will be losing out as food and fuel are now taking up some much of a weekly budget.
For the average family, already one quarter of all costs, after rent or mortgage, goes on fuel. But for poorer families it is 37 per cent and could rise beyond 50 per cent after October. It takes weeks to update the Universal Credit payments regime for eight million claimants and time is running out to adjust the computer system before the October hike.
Johnson, Sunak and Truss must unite to prepare and issue an emergency Budget. We need a fourth Budget of the year – it’s essential to fill the gaps left by the third.
If they don’t, the pressure should grow to recall Parliament to force them. For the Government has done too little and soon it will be too late.
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