In My View: Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall
With the horrific war raging in Ukraine and so many other stories competing for our attention, it is easy to be distracted from the Government’s shameful inaction to tackle the cost of living crisis.
But average yearly energy bills rose by nearly £700 across the country last month, and experts are warning they could rise by another £630 in October.
The impact of this will be felt by all of us, but for the millions of low-income families that are on the very edge after 12 years of Tory austerity, it will be the difference between survival and despair.
This includes the 8,000 households in my constituency of Vauxhall that were already living in fuel poverty before this crisis began.
Nobody should ever be forced to choose between heating their home or feeding their family in the sixth richest country on earth, but the Chancellor’s refusal to act means that it will be the brutal reality for many.
Shamefully, vulnerable pensioners will be among the hardest hit.
Recent analysis has shown that more than two million pensioners across the UK don’t have enough savings to pay for this year’s rise in energy bills, following the Government’s decision to impose the biggest real terms cut to the state pension since the 1970s.
I have always believed that Gandhi was right when he said that the true measure of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.
When this pension cut is combined with the second reduction in Universal Credit in sixth months for some of the poorest working age groups, and a National Insurance hike that will disproportionately hit those on lower incomes, the Government’s priorities are clear.
At a time when inflation has skyrocketed to 7 per cent, those already struggling the most are being left to shoulder the largest burden.
Though we have had three different Prime Ministers since 2010, this has been the defining theme of the Conservatives in power.
Unlike the Chancellor, I know what it feels like to live in real hardship.
I have spoken before about growing up on a council estate in Brixton as the eldest child of a single mum.
I saw the sacrifices she made to make sure that my sisters and I had food to eat and a warm bed at night.
It pains me deeply that thousands of families across Vauxhall will still be going through that today, as the bitter reality of rising bills bites.
It doesn’t have to be like this. This cost of living crisis has been looming for months, and I have been pleading with Ministers to act to avoid this nightmare for working people ever since it became clear that household bills were going to go through the roof.
This week’s Queen’s Speech provided an opportunity for the Government to rise to the challenge and take decisive action to tackle the acute hardship that people are facing. But none of the measures announced will provide the help that people across Vauxhall and beyond need to get them through a situation they had no part in causing.
Labour’s plan to introduce a windfall tax on the obscene profits of oil and gas giants would take up to £600 off bills for 9 million families in the most acute need, and up to £200 off for everyone else.
This would lessen the immediate impact, whilst turbocharging investment in energy efficiency will keep bills down in the long-term by guaranteeing the UK’s future energy security.
Locally too, your newly-elected Labour councillors will be working hard to direct the council’s pressurised resources towards protecting the most vulnerable in Lambeth.
Please be assured that I will continue to do everything in my power to get the Government to change course.
If you live in Vauxhall and are in urgent need of assistance, please contact my office by emailing florence.eshalomi.mp@parliament.uk or calling 0207 619 6552.