Boris Johnson to stress work as the fix for cost of living crisis
Boris Johnson hopes to blunt calls for urgent action on the cost of living crisis by stressing that work is the best route out of poverty, as an energy firm boss warned that 40% of households could soon be in fuel poverty.
No 10 sources confirmed on Sunday that the prime minister will continue to throw the spotlight on the healthy state of the job market, in the face of the rising clamour to help families struggling with their bills.
Ministers have as yet been unable to agree what more should be done amid continued wrangling over the merits of a windfall tax, with Downing Street keen to stress the £22bn that has already been spent on supporting households, and highlighting the need to grow the economy.
Johnson told the Welsh Conservative conference on Friday: “I’m proud to say that you have to go all the way back to 1974 to find a time when the unemployment was as low in the UK as it is today, and whatever the difficulties that the post-Covid economy faces now, I just want you to dwell on that for a second.”
However, with wages failing to keep up with 9% annual inflation, many of those struggling to make ends meet are already in jobs. Official figures show that 41% of universal credit claimants are in work, while the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculates that 68% of families living in poverty include at least one working adult.
The Liberal Democrats’ economy spokesperson, Christine Jardine, said: “Hardworking families across the UK are really struggling right now as the price of everything from food to fuel continues to rise. Yet the Conservatives are doing little to help.” She said many people were “juggling long hours and multiple jobs just to scrape by”.
With parliament breaking for the Whitsun recess on Thursday, any fresh
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