John Healey says people feel ‘abandoned’ by the Government and left to fend for themselves in the cost of living crisis.
Residents are talking to him about their struggle with record tax levels, energy costs, petrol prices and food bills.
“Many people are working hard but finding it harder to make ends meet. With costs rising across the board, they feel they’re paying more and getting less”, the MPs says.
A local NHS worker told John how much more they are paying and how they are juggling family finances.
The nurse says: “In my pay packet this month, I am paying £35 extra in National Insurance contributions. I am paying £101 a month extra for my energy costs. Paying more for petrol to get to work – £10 extra per month. Paying more for food and household goods – £18.50 extra per month.” The nurse goes on to say that their plans to retire may not now be possible due to the cost of living crisis.
A number of pensioners have also been in touch with John with one couple telling their MP: “With the present fuel, heating and food increases we will probably have to choose between Heating and Eating.”
While out in the community other pensioners have explained to John how their pensions are fixed but the bills keep going up, with many saying they just don’t know how they’ll cope with the rising costs.
John Healey said: “People feel abandoned by Government at a time when they need help with spiralling costs coming at them from all quarters.
“They see Tory Ministers who are out of touch and making the problems worse by hitting people with a tax hike in their pay packets this week. The Chancellor has now raised taxes 15 times, costing families £1,060 this year. These tax rises combined with energy cost, petrol, food shop and mortgage rises are costing families on average a total £2,620 this year.
“I’m really disappointed the Government has rejected Labour’s plan for practical, fully-costed steps that could help everyone.
“The country now needs an emergency budget to bring in five changes to make a direct difference to the millions of pensioners and working people who are feeling the crunch from this costs crisis”
Labour’s Five Calls:
- Put a windfall tax on oil and gas producers to cut home energy bills: Bring in a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits, to cut household bills by up to £600, including through a VAT cut on home energy bills and an increase and expansion of the Warm Homes Discount.
- Provide support for struggling businesses: Labour would cut taxes for businesses by giving SMEs a discount on their business rates bill worth up to £5,700 this year, funded by a tax on the online giants. We’d also bring in a £600 million contingency fund, raised by the windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits, for those industries and businesses struggling the most with rising bills like steel and other energy-intensive firms.
- Spike the hike: Scrap the National Insurance hike which this government has introduced in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
- Insulate homes: Commit to a rapid ramp up of home upgrades with a clear target to meet by the end of the year, to make them more energy efficient and cheaper to heat, saving households £400 on average every year.
- Stop the waste: Allow the National Crime Agency to investigate the £11.8 billion of taxpayer funds lost to fraud and error, so no more taxpayer money is flushed down the drain.