UK Finance Minister unveils £94 bn package for cost-of-living crisis

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Mar 18:56

The cost-of-living crisis has made it unbearable for some workers, both from the public and private sectors, to attend to some of their basic daily needs.

A woman walks alone on a street in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced on Wednesday that its support package to combat the cost-of-living crisis this year and the next is worth £94 billion ($114 billion).

"In the face of a cost-of-living crisis... we have demonstrated our values by protecting struggling families," Hunt said in his speech before the Parliament, noting that there will be additional support allocated for energy bills and childcare.

This comes in light of mass walkouts staged by doctors, nurses, teachers, civil servants, BBC journalists, and drivers on London's underground Tube railway.

The cost-of-living crisis has made it unbearable for some workers, both from the public and private sectors, to attend to some of their basic daily needs, such as affording one of three essential meals every day.

"High inflation is the root cause of the strikes we have seen in recent months," Hunt stressed. "We will continue to work hard to settle those disputes but only in a way that does not fuel inflation."

He pointed out that inflation in the UK remains to linger above the 10% mark, yet it should be cooling down to 2.9% by the end of the year.

He further raised lawmakers' attention to the fact that the UK has narrowly avoided two successive quarters of contraction last year and that the British economy will avoid a technical recession in 2023.

Subsidies on energy bills will be extended for an additional three months in order the counter inflation that ensued from sanctions on Russia.

"Continuing to hold down energy bills is part of our plan to help hardworking families with the cost of living and halve inflation this year," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement preceding the formal budget announcement.

On another note, the Tory party's administration said it would increase funding for childcare and related actions to encourage parents, individuals over-50s, and similar categories back into the job market.

The government is looking to fill about 1.1 million job vacancies which were caused by a shortage of EU workers that resulted from Brexit as well as a record number of people classed as long-term sick.