Enough is Enough movement gathers pace with Andy Burnham latest backer

theguardian.com:

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, is to back the growing Enough is Enough movement whose leaders are planning dozens of rallies against the cost of living crisis which they warn will result in people dying.

Burnham’s move indicates a widening political base to a campaign which now has close to 450,000 supporters after it was set up earlier this month by trade union leaders including the RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, who said he wanted to “turn anger into action”.

Burnham, a former Labour health secretary viewed as a centrist, joins a group with a growing network of local activists in more than 70 towns and cities from Crawley to Blackpool.

Its demands include a cut to the energy price cap to the pre-April level of £1,277 a year, a real terms public sector pay rise, a reverse to the national insurance hike and a £20 a week universal credit increase – a programme that is set to cost in excess of £100bn a year.

It is planning 50 rallies in the next month after the expected announcement on Friday of a rise in the energy price cap to £3,553 a year which is forecast to rise further to £4,500 in January when the poorest families using pre-payment metres could face unaffordable bills of £613 for that month alone. Thousands of households could have their power cut off and millions more are predicted to plunge into utilities arrears.

“It is growing at such a rate we have had to update our database infrastructure,” said Chris Webb, head of communications at the Communication Workers Union which is helping organise the movement. “There is potential for us to call our own mass demonstrations.”

It is in talks with premier league footballers and household name actors to boost its profile. Another lead organiser, Ian Byrne,