A financial shock is about to hit a country already battered and bruised by years of austerity
This may destroy them, a cost of living explosion such as few have known in their lifetimes. The £350 of support for most households, announced today by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor amounts to only a fraction of the extra bills heading towards most households. It came on the day that the Bank of England raised interest rates, and on the day Shell boasted of a “momentous” 14-fold rise in its profits to £12bn. Labour’s promise of a windfall on soaring energy company profits never looked more prudent.
Expect people to understand all too well that these easements Sunak offers are nothing more than disguised loans. This “heat now, freeze later” debt will be clawed back from every future energy bill until 2027 – and prices may rise again. Labour’s Chris Bryant spelled out in parliament why £350 doesn’t “touch the sides” of the problem for his constituents in Rhondda: household costs are increasing by £2,875 a year, he said, in a constituency where the average wage is £27,000.
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
