A new poll of over 7,400 people has found that 59% of voters are demanding action on the cost of living and the economy. This figure was higher than the number of voters who ranked immigration as a top priority (51%) and the NHS (45%). 

The MRP poll, conducted by Electoral Calculus on behalf of communications firm PLMR, also showed Reform UK as on track to secure 36% of the vote – placing them ahead of Labour at 21% and the Conservatives at just 15%. 

This voting pattern would see Nigel Farage’s party win 445 seats and a majority in the House of Commons. The Conservatives would fall to a historic low of just seven seats, placing them in fifth behind Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP). 

The research also highlighted tactical voting trends that “could stop Farage in his tracks”. PLMR and Electoral Calculus estimate that 78 seats could flip if voters opposed to Reform UK coordinate their votes to block the party.

According to the poll, over a third of Labour voters said “they would back the Tories to block Reform.” It also found that Green and Your Party voters would “shift to vote Labour to avoid splitting the progressive vote.”

Kevin Craig, founder and CEO of PLMR, described the poll as showing a “remarkable fall from grace for the Conservative Party”.

“The electorate is demanding action on the economy first and foremost”, Craig said. “It’s time to forget the slogans and the clever language. Instead, the government must keep calm and focus on delivering more money into working people’s pockets”.

Craig added: “When we went out onto the streets talking to voters in Liverpool around the Labour Party conference, the message was really clear: voters want the weekly shop to cost less. 

“And what our polling also shows is that it’s time to forget the slogans and the clever language. It’s really simple: people want to cost less.”

Martin Baxter, founder of Electoral Calculus, said the poll “underscores just how volatile the political landscape has become.” 

He identified “two big changes” pointing in different directions. “Anti-Reform tactical voting means Reform’s poll lead isn’t as good as it looks”, Baxter said, “as the party could lose dozens of seats because many voters will vote for any candidate without a light-blue rosette.”

He added: “However, the emergence of ‘Your Party’ further fragments the left-of-centre vote, and makes things easier for Reform UK and harder for Labour.

“Ahead of the Autumn budget coming in November, voters are making their priorities clear, placing the economy, immigration and the NHS at the top of the agenda.

“Labour now faces a fight for votes, and their ability to act decisively and deliver on these priorities will determine whether the party can defend its leadership or risk falling further behind as Reform seeks to solidify its gains.”

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We start with a very low bar. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) gleefully signed by Boris Johnson put up trade barriers between the UK and the 27 members of the European Union and the result has been as sad as it was predictable. Our economy is estimated to be 5% smaller, businesses are suffocated by more red tape and every household is paying at least £250 more per year in food bills as a direct consequence.

No sector has emerged unscathed. Farmers and musicians, researchers and beer-brewers, shop keepers and car manufacturers; all are paying more and earning less because of trade barriers erected in the name of ‘economic freedom’. The Brexit deal isn’t solely to blame for our economic malaise, but there is no question it has compounded our decade and a half of virtual stagnation. The average UK worker would be earning £10,400 more per year today if pay growth had continued on the trend before the 2008 global financial crisis.

In an increasingly dangerous world, low growth doesn’t just squeeze our living standards, it has resulted in fewer resources for our national defence and to support our public services. All of this means that our government has to look at every possible opportunity to grow the economy and ease the cost of living crisis. Therein lies the significance of the chancellor’s presence in Brussels and her comments about the reset of our relationship with the European Union in her recent Mansion House speech.

There is so much that could be on the agenda. Beneficial regulatory alignment monitored by a new EU-UK Regulatory Council, a Youth Mobility Scheme (akin to the 13 we already have with international partners across the world), the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. Greater cooperation on the Net Zero agenda and synchronised taxes on carbon from trade. All are evidence-based proposals from the last report published by the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission of MPs and industry leaders and all worthy of consideration again.

The politics of our relationship with the EU has changed too. In polling published last week by Best for Britain, 44% of respondents said we should prioritise trading more with the European Union, as opposed to 19% who opted for the US. The difference increases further (48% to 17%) when asking voters who switched from the Conservatives in 2019 to Labour in 2024. Put simply, the type of swing voter who delivered the decisive Labour majority this year is not just open to a closer relationship with the EU, they are actively seeking it.

The public has moved on from the binary Leave/Remain divide, instead the priority for so many voters is action on the cost of living and rising living standards. After all the political turmoil caused by Brexit it might seem brave to talk of a renewed UK/EU partnership, but now is precisely the time for it. To grow the UK economy, a strengthened bond with our largest trading partner is not an optional extra, it is our essential and most important relationship.

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With rents and mortgages, food costs and energy bills still putting a strain on everyone’s finances, it’s no wonder folk are disillusioned with the Westminster bubble.

The survey, conducted by Nationwide, showed that 84% of people in the UK are worried about January spending, with 43% blaming high energy costs and 37% blaming the cost of living crisis.

It comes following Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, confirming his party would not redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest if they win the next general election, nor properly invest in renewable energy.

Over the past year, Sir Keir has forensically dismantled Labour’s policy platform and performed a series of screeching U-turns.

Free university tuition? Scrapping tax breaks for private schools? Abolishing the bedroom tax and two child cap? Taxing higher earners? Investing £28 billion in the just transition? Voters have watched on in horror as the Labour leadership has jettisoned each and every policy.

The Labour Party in now indistinguishable from the Tories when it comes to policy. Starmer was even unwilling to stand up and call for a ceasefire in Gaza until there were similar noises from Tory politicians. Now he’s even given up on their right to statehood.

Dumping policies, forsaking values and dodging decisions are all that characterises the Labour leader, whom the public rightly do not trust. As such, Labour is failing working people while the Tories scramble to the hard right of the political spectrum and sink into internecine conflict.

It’s clearer than ever before that neither of the Westminster parties are focused on the people’s priorities – they’re too preoccupied with image, internal squabbles and their own electoral prospects. Even during the progress of the Finance bill, the process following the Chancellor’s Autumn statement, the Labour party have refused to bring their own or support SNP initiatives to help people, now, during their time of need. 

We’ve asked for last year’s £400 energy bill rebate to be reintroduced, since bills are even higher than 12 months ago, we’ve asked for intervention on food prices, which is happening in other countries and indeed for a range of measures on rents, mortgages and more. They even abstained from an SNP motion to add to the finance bill, a requirement for the Tories to report on the effects of the budget on the cost of living.

The silence from Labour is not only deafening it is a warning for the future. The fact is that, once in power, it is an open secret that they will continue with the harsh austerity programme of the Tories. There is not one tangible measure of support for struggling households to give them help, when they need it, which is now – and in the immediate future on offer from the Labour Party. Their rhetoric is indistinguishable from that of the Tories under Cameron. Just like Brexit, their selling point is that they will, somehow do the public self harm of austerity ‘better’

It is a sales pitch straight to Tory voters and an abandonment of basic principles, not only to the poor but the growing number of struggling families who are being dragged into financial crisis.

With each passing day, it’s clear that only the SNP are offering voters an alternative to this Westminster-made cost of living crisis.

Households across the nations of the UK are crying out for support, this, the toughest month yet, should see that support given, and, whilst it is hardly a surprise that the Tories have no compassion on this issue surely those in opposition should be fighting for it. The SNP are, where are Labour? They are abstaining to avoid offence to those who they seek to recruit.

And for many of them, it will be. It will certainly feel like it, as the temperatures dip, prices remain high and Westminster leaves them to suffer.

Only the SNP are championing the investment needed to boost economic growth, expand our exciting renewable sector, and protect our NHS for households right across Scotland.

This election can’t come soon enough – and when it does, it’ll be clear to voters in Scotland that Labour and the Tories are just two sides of the same coin.

The SNP stand to actually make a real difference for people and deliver the change they need. Goodness knows that after decades of boom and bust with this lot, they badly need it.

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Disabled households face myriad extra costs costs, from specialist therapies, to higher energy bills to run essential and specialist equipment like breathing machines and feeding pumps. Then there’s the costs of charging electric wheelchairs, paying for accessible transport, running the washing machine several times a day – they all come at a cost.

Heating is especially important to those who are less mobile and struggle to regulate their own body temperature. Disabled people tell us that getting too cold can be devastating – even fatal – for them, making their health and wellbeing worse. And while most families will notice an increase in energy bills during winter months, this will usually follow a ‘relief period’ of cheaper energy bills in the summer. Disabled households may not have had this luxury – equipment still needs power when the sun is shining, and if you cannot regulate your body temperature then sky-high bills for heating will just be replaced by air conditioning units and fans in the hotter months. There is no let-up.

Now disabled people are facing a second winter with insufficient financial support and many are feeling the strain. New research from national disability charity Sense, which supports children and adults with complex disabilities, reveals more than half of disabled people are coming into this winter already in debt, with two-thirds plagued by constant worries about bills.

In the face of spiralling costs and rising debts, people are looking to the government for support. But in Sense’s research, 44 per cent of disabled people said they didn’t feel they’d received enough support from the government with their energy costs – and we’re not surprised. Since the crisis began, the government’s financial support has not been sufficient, and characterised by one-off payments rather than long term support. These payments don’t go anywhere near covering the household costs disabled people need to survive.

Disabled people told us that they feel let down and sidelined and many have been forced to take drastic steps to make ends meet. Nearly one in five (18 per cent) adults with complex disabilities told Sense that they have cut back on charging their vital machinery, like feeding tubes and electric wheelchairs, in a desperate bid to save money. People’s mental and physical health is already deteriorating and as we move into winter, things will only get more extreme: nearly six in ten (57 per cent) people told Sense they’re planning on turning the heating in their homes down or completely off to save money, while half (51 per cent) will resort to ‘warm spaces’ in the community because they can’t afford their energy bills.

This situation is indefensible and more drastic measures are needed before many more disabled people are pushed into fuel poverty and into further debt.

Sense wants to see the government to introduce long-term support to help people through the financial instability caused by the cost-of-living crisis. One way the government could do this is by introducing a social energy tariff, which it was previously committed to consult on. This option has appeared to come off the agenda. A social energy tariff, which has widespread support from the charity sector, would protect disabled households who use more energy and recognise the extra costs that disabled people face through no fault of their own.

The charity’s research shows the majority (86 per cent) of disabled people would value a discounted energy scheme. The autumn budget, announced just weeks before cold weather really starts to take hold, would be the perfect opportunity for government to reignite its previous commitment to consulting on a social energy tariff. We would also like to see the government commit to increasing disability benefits in line with inflation.

We are in the middle of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, and government must act rather than watch for a second winter, leaving more disabled people forced into more debt and further ill-health. Proper, long-term financial support is desperately needed; otherwise even more disabled families will be pushed into total destitution.

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The current cost of living crisis is hitting people hard, exacerbating the existing inequalities that have long been a feature of our society. The levelling up agenda was pitched by the Johnson government as the long-term solution to these problems – a plan to “challenge and change” the unfairness of regional inequality.

Since then, our attention has been gripped, first, by political crises and, now, by more pressing economic ones, at the expense of thinking about long-term policy solutions to these challenges. Just this week, the Times reported that some MPs in marginal seats have been discouraged from using the term ‘levelling up’, leaving the door open to some interpreting this as a sign of a government looking to quietly distance itself from prior commitments.

This would be a serious mistake: the government should continue to prioritise the levelling up agenda alongside the cost of living crisis, to ensure people are better off and more resilient in the future. The government also needs to step up its cost of living support, so that ongoing levelling up projects are not hampered by the lack of money in people’s pockets.

Levelling up has been the subject of significant political attention since the government published the long awaited white paper on the topic last year. At Demos, we thought it was important to carry out a progress check. We wanted to understand how levelling up was going and what lessons could be learned for the future. We chose to visit the Tees Valley, where Conservative metro mayor Ben Houchen has made levelling up his flagship policy.

If levelling up was going to work anywhere, all evidence suggests it would be in the Tees Valley. Not least because it needs to succeed there – the North East has some of the starkest unemployment, child poverty and health statistics of anywhere in the country.

Levelling up in the Tees Valley is a work in progress, but people are worried about the impact of the cost of living crisis.

What we found, based on focus groups with the ordinary people who live there, was that people had faith in the local levelling up agenda – restoring the area as a leader in industry and creating more jobs was something people supported. However, many had not seen much progress so far. One person told us they thought levelling up had “ground to a halt”.

A lack of employment opportunities was a common concern – several people had either family members or friends who were struggling to find work. Some felt the levelling up agenda had not yet delivered new jobs on the scale they had been promised. People were worried about the impact of the cost of living crisis on themselves and their families, but also on the viability of local businesses and the local economy. With less money in the pockets of local people, our participants questioned whether the restaurants, bars and cafes being opened as part of local town centre regeneration projects would survive.

Our research also found that people were concerned about the future of the levelling up agenda more generally. They questioned whether the national economic crisis meant that the government would reduce the amount of funding allocated to areas like Tees Valley for levelling up projects. One person asked, “How long will this levelling up funding keep coming? Will that be put on hold?”.

This is not just a problem for families or businesses in the short term – it represents a longer-term problem for the resilience of communities. A continuous cycle where an area like the Tees Valley benefits from investment, only to suffer when an economic crisis comes along, benefits no one. It is vitally important that the government adequately addresses the cost of living crisis now, to sure up the future prosperity of places across the country.

The success of the levelling up agenda depends on effectively addressing the cost of living crisis.

What our research shows is that the success of the levelling up agenda in the long term depends upon how effectively people are supported through the cost of living crisis in the short term. Levelling up policy must be connected to cost of living policy in a meaningful way, across the country, for the government to fulfil its promise. We recommend making the current cost of living support more accessible, significant and longer term. This could mean bringing forward and extending cost of living measures, as well as expanding the eligibility of households to claim cost of living payments after April 2023.

It should also mean assessing the impact that cost of living support will have on local government funding in the long term, and accelerating levelling up initiatives rather than putting them on hold.

Levelling up is a long-term agenda, designed to address long-term problems. However, the cost of living crisis has exacerbated the poverty and inequality that already existed in many places across the country. These problems are not only having a profound impact on people’s quality of life, ability to pay their bills or find work, but are also hampering the success of the levelling up agenda. To effectively level up the country and address regional inequality, the government must step up and protect people from the cost of living crisis now.

Courtney Stephenson is a researcher at Demos. She is the author of the recent Demos Report on levelling up and the Tees Valley. 

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Tackling the ‘cost of living’ crisis is, we are told, one of the government’s key aims. In fact, the phrase appeared in the second line of Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement last week. Which is all well and good, except what we’re actually facing is a cost of inequality crisis.

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Tax rises to middle earners, an increased windfall tax on gas and oil companies and a raise in minimum wage. We asked the public what they thought of the plans outlined in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement…

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The result of the ballot is now set to impact on the delivery of a range of public services from the workings of driving test centres, job centres, to the operations of the UK border force.

The decision has been welcomed by the former Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn who tweeted to say, ‘Civil servants were told to accept real-terms cuts to pay and pensions. Today they are united and defiant in their response.  Solidarity with all PCS union members. I’ll see you on the picket line”.

A high 86.2% of those voting supported strike action, the highest percentage vote for action in the union’s history.

The legal turnout threshold of 50% is understood to have been achieved in 126 different employer areas. The average turnout across all balloted areas was 51.6%.

The PCS union is demanding a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and and no cuts to redundancy terms.

The PCS national executive committee (NEC) has now sent a letter to the Cabinet Office demanding meaningful negotiations on its claims. Unless substantial proposals are received from the government, the PCS NEC is expected to agree a programme of industrial action at its meeting on 18 November.

Commenting on the ballot, PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwortka said, “Our members have spoken and if the government fails to listen to them, we have no option than to launch a prolonged programme of industrial action reaching every corner of public life”.

The union says that its industrial action will be scheduled to have the maximum effect, including coordinating its action with other unions.

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Prices are now rising at their fastest rate since the early 1980s.

This month’s increase in inflation is being driven by a continuing rise in food and non alcoholic drinks prices, with this section of the price index having risen 14.5% in the last year.

The latest figures are particularly notable because it is the September inflation figure that traditionally dictates the annual rise in the state pension for the following April.

The Conservative party manifesto contained a commitment to maintain the so called ‘tripple lock’ on increasing the state pension with the higher of either earnings or inflation.

However, with the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt seeking to curb public spending in order to reduce government borrowing, the prime minister’s official spokesman yesterday refused to guarantee that pensions would this year rise with inflation.

The think tank, the Resolution Foundation has suggested that only raising pensions in line with earnings, rather than the Consumer Price Index, has the potential to save the public finances some £6 billion a year.

However any failure to raise pensions in line with inflation is likely to prove politically problematic for the government.

A number of Conservative MPs such as Stephen Crabb, Maria Caulfield, and Steve Double have already publicly suggested that they would not support any move.  With the potential for a parliamentary revolt amongst Conservative MPs, it is therefore far from evident that the government would be able to pass such a measure through the House of Commons.

The latest rise in inflation also puts pressure on the government to commit to raising Universal Credit in line with inflation.

Writing on Twitter this morning, the Green MP Caroline Lucas, highlighted how her local Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Brighton has seen a 280% increase in people in financial distress since July, saying ‘Hunt can and must increase benefits with inflation.  Refusal to do so will cost lives”.

The Bank of England has previously said that it expects UK inflation to peak at 11% in October, before remaining around that level in the last quarter of the year, and then falling back through 2023.

The UK is not the only country experiencing high inflation. Inflation in Germany is currently also at the 10% mark, with the figure at 9% in Ireland, 8.5% in America, and 6% in France.

Twelve months ago, in September 2021, UK inflation was only 2.9%.

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Politics.co.uk takes a look at the main pressures driving the cost of living crisis in this animated explainer video.

With inflation expected to reach 11%, here are the five main areas in which people are feeling the pinch.

Produced by Senate Media

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Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years. He said that this would be a “new era” for the UK economy.

Income tax and the stamp duty on home purchases will be cut and planned rises in business taxes have been scrapped. Kwarteng scrapped Boris Johnson’s previous plans to increase taxes in order to pay for public services with the aim of “boosting economic growth”.

He also unveiled a cut to the top rate of income tax from 45% to 40%, meaning the UK will have a single higher rate from April.

The Chancellor has vowed to scrap the Bankers Bonus Cap, which whilst in place, meant that bankers were unable receive a bonus of more than 200% of their basic salary. This, Kwarteng added, did nothing but increase their base salaries and deter bankers from investing in the UK.

The package was generally not well-received in the Commons, with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves saying that it provides “no hope or reassurance” to anyone struggling and Lib Dem’s Sarah Olney saying the current government are “out of touch”.

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Wholesale energy costs for businesses will be cut by up to half of their expected price through the winter months, the government has announced.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will mean those on fixed-term contracts, agreed on or after 1 April, will see prices for electricity capped at £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) and £75 per MWh for gas.

It will apply to energy usage from 1^st October 2022 to 31^st March 2023, running for an initial six-month period for all non-domestic energy users (including shops, hospitality, schools, hospitals etc). The support will be automatically applied to customers’ bills.

The scheme will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households. The plan effectively puts a maximum price on the cost of electricity and gas charged to businesses.

It is currently predicted that this scheme would cost the taxpayer around £25bn with the business secretary admitting it would “unquestionably” run to “tens of billions”.

Opposition parties have previously demanded a windfall tax on energy generators, meaning that the taxpayers would not be footing the bill.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg also said:

“We have seen an unprecedented rise in energy prices following Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, which has affected consumers up and down the country and businesses of all sizes.

The help we are already putting in place will save families money off their bills, and the government’s plans for businesses, charities and public sector organisations will give them the equivalent level of support.”

The government have been under immense pressure to unveil a plan owing to the sitting time lost to the Queen’s mourning period.

Many businesses who managed to stay afloat during the difficult times of the Covid pandemic face renewed anxieties owing to the rise in energy bill prices.

Prime Minister Liz Truss said the plan will provide “certainty and peace of mind” for businesses who are worried about their energy bills.

She also said:

“I understand the huge pressure businesses, charities and public sector organisations are facing with their energy bills, which is why we are taking immediate action to support them over the winter and protect jobs and livelihoods.

We’ll make sure that the most vulnerable businesses, like pubs, like shops, continue to be supported, after that.”

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Prime minister Liz Truss has announced that energy bills will be capped at £2,500 per household for the next two winters.

She has also announced measures to help businesses in a similar way for the next 6 months.

As expected, Truss rejected the windfall tax that those on opposite benches are calling for.

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In her first prime minister’s questions, Liz Truss has ruled out windfall tax as a solution for the cost of living crisis while energy company profits continue to soar.

She told the House of Commons that she was “on the side of hard working people” and would tackle the issue instead by cutting tax, promising a statement on Thursday.

Labour leader Keir Starmer was left exasperated as the decision to leave excess profits “on the table” while asking working people to “foot the bill” for rising energy costs. Starmer told MPs that while the face at the top has changed, “the story remains the same” in the Conservative Party.

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Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme this morning, Jonathan Brearley, the CEO of Ofgem said, “I know this will be devastating for many families when they hear how much their energy bills are going up by”.

“To give you an idea, if that was happening with petrol, to fill your car would cost £400 to £500 each time”

Mr Brearley added, “Over and above this figure, the difficult news that I have to give today, is that prices look like they are continuing to rise”.

“The truth is that this is beyond the capacity of the industry and the regulator to address.  So what we are saying today, is that we have 10 days now till we have a new administration and a new prime minister.  What I am clear about is that the prime minister, with his or her new ministerial team, will need to act urgently and decisively to address this”.

Mr Brearley’s comments only further increase pressure on the government to urgently introduce a plan. The winner of the Conservative leadership contest is expected to announce a strategy promptly after their appointment on the 5^th September.

Ofgem said it will not give projections for the next price cap increase set to occur in January because the market remains “too volatile”. They did, however,  warn that prices “could get significantly worse through 2023”.

The energy regulator previously confirmed the cap would be reviewed quarterly rather than every six months. Ofgem said this would allow it to “adjust much more quickly” to volatility in the market.

Following the announcement, Katie Schmuecker, Principal Policy Adviser for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has called for immediate government intervention, saying:

“It is simply unthinkable that the price rises announced today can go ahead without further Government intervention on a significant scale. To force the burden of rising wholesale energy prices onto households will plunge many into destitution. Millions more will face the threat of bills they simply cannot pay, homes they cannot heat and stomachs they cannot fill.

“Whoever occupies number 10 next will be remembered for who they protect – they must make sure energy doesn’t become a luxury only the wealthy can afford.”

Simon Francis, Co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition which represents over 60 charities, local authorities and campaign groups, commented:

“Today’s Ofgem price hike is like a dagger to the hearts of millions of people up and down the country.

“All the solutions lie at the Westminster Government’s door, yet it is silent in the face of this looming disaster.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have different approaches to the crisis. Truss is not an advocate on cash handouts, which she refers to as “throwing money at the problem”. Sunak, however, claims that this is the only way to stop “millions of people” from spiralling into destitution.

The new price cap level will take effect from 1 October 2022 but some suppliers may begin increasing direct debits before this date to spread the cost.

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Branding the crisis as a “national emergency”, Labour said it would scrap the £400 cost of living payment and freeze electricity and gas bill prices at their current state for six months. The party plans to fund this by increasing tax on oil and gas companies in hope of raising around £29bn.

Energy bills are forecast to be capped at £3,582 per year in October and £4,266 in January, both of which Starmer’s plan is set to block. However, the plan does nothing to stop the increase in April when bills are expected to hit £5,000 per year.

Unveiling the £29bn plan to help with soaring energy costs, Sir Keir said Labour “wouldn’t let people pay a penny more” than they currently do on their fuel bills, which is still 54% higher than the average Brit paid last winter.

He added that if Labour’s plan was adopted, the average family would see savings of £1,000.

Detailing where the funds would come from, Labour says that cancelling the government’s planned £400 payment to families would free up £14bn. £8bn would come from a windfall tax on gas and oil producers (backdated to January this year) and the final £7bn would be generated by the policy’s positive effect on inflation.

Responding to the proposals, Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the scheme was effective but would entirely mitigate the impacts of energy price increases.

He told the Today Programme:  “You’re looking at the cost of furlough, so a very expensive scheme. What it does achieve is to protect everybody entirely from the increases in energy prices, so, if that’s what you want to achieve then that’s what we need to do.”

He also acknowledged the fully costed nature of the proposals, noting it was “more than what the leadership candidates have done” and shows that Labour have arguably gone “above and beyond”.

The current government has pledged £37bn of support to help people through the winter.

In the plan, Sir Keir also said that freezing the price cap at the current level of £1,971 a year would bring inflation down by four percentage points.

Inflation hit 9.4% in June which is the highest level for more than 40 years. This figure is expected to increase to around 13% later this year.

Behind this soaring inflation is an increase in energy bill prices, driven mainly by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Other factors include higher fuel and rising food costs.

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The Trades Union Congress has today warned that energy bills will cost more than two months pay if nothing is done. Average take-home pay after tax is expected to be £2,054 per month, while annual energy bills are predicted to cost £4,200 on average.

The union body is calling for emergency funding support along with a longer-term plan to prevent similar future crises.

It has requested that the government bring trade union and business leaders into the Treasury to devise an urgent response to the crisis together – in an approach that mirrors the start of the pandemic, which lead to the creation of the furlough scheme.

Halting the energy price cap increase by having the government pay the difference in full (an estimated £38.5bn), increasing the minimum wage, universal credit and state pension rates in line with inflation, and funding significant pay rises in the public sector are among the TUC’s other recommendations.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world.”

“Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak need to wake up to the size of this crisis. This requires a pandemic-scale intervention. Ministers must cancel the catastrophic rise to energy bills this autumn. And to make sure energy remains affordable to everyone, they should bring the energy retail companies into public ownership.”

Money saving expert Martin Lewis has also compared this crisis to the pandemic, saying that the government must act with the same haste. He warns that “the government alone” can help by “putting money in people’s pockets”

Already more than a decade into the toughest squeeze on wages for 200 years, this crisis has hit the UK at a time where many families were losing hope.

The union body claims that the wage crisis has been “compounded by the shock to energy prices.” Instead of investing in energy efficiency and renewable power sources, a privatised energy market creamed off excess profits while leaving us all vulnerable to unstable global markets, the TUC claims.

The energy crisis has been a key topic in the leadership race between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Truss, who initially said she would focus on tax-cuts and not financial ‘hand-outs’ to help those in need, has recently appeared to flip-flop and now claims she is “not ruling it out”. Sunak has offered a one-off payment of £650 to households struggling with the crisis.

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The scheme will see free rail tickets issued from September 1 to December 31 this year and is designed to help cushion the impact of the cost-of-living crisis for Spanish citizens, particularly those who rely on using public transport to get to work.

The policy will also see a 30 per cent discount apply to all other forms of public transport, including buses, metros and trams.

The scheme will be in a large part paid for by a significant windfall tax on energy companies.

With the cost-of-living crisis surging here in the UK, we need to be looking at innovative solutions to help keep costs down. In Wales, we have seen high petrol prices forcing social care staff to leave their jobs. Our overpriced rail services and patchy bus services hardly offer an alternative as they stand.

Overall, we know that lower-income families are more reliant on public transport in Wales, we also know that lower-income families are bearing the brunt of this cost-of-living crisis. If Welsh Labour were to introduce a similar policy to that of Spain in Wales, it could dramatically help those experiencing hardship.

With winter approaching, the introduction of a free transport scheme during the next few months could help families at the very moment rising energy bills are set to bite the hardest.

Besides helping working families cope with the cost-of-living crisis, the policy would also be a huge step towards tackling climate change, reducing pollution and reducing congestion and could even encourage some people to build positive habits and make the longer-term switch to public transport.

Transport is currently one of Wales’ largest polluters and air pollution is at deadly levels in many cities, costing the Welsh NHS around £1 billion each year.

In Germany, a similar scheme to the one in Spain where all rail tickets were discounted to €9 for a limited time, resulted in a decreased level of congestion in 23 of the 26 cities examined.

The scheme has proven so popular that large sections of the public as well as think tanks, climate campaigners and academics are encouraging the German Government to continue it through the winter.

Such a scheme in Wales, or indeed any other part of the UK could play a vital role in restoring ridership to our country’s trains and buses. Between 2009 and 2019 (pre-pandemic) there was a 22 per cent decline in the number of journeys by buses in Wales and Wales continues to have the highest proportion of people travelling to work by car in the UK (estimated at approximately 75- 80 per cent).

An increase in ridership in turn could be used to argue for greater levels of investment by the Government in our public transport systems, but also could entice the private sector to invest in more routes and modernization.

But the benefits of free rail travel and discounted bus travel wouldn’t just be limited to tackling the cost-of-living crisis and fighting climate change. There is also the chance to use such a scheme to increase social mobility. By giving people access to free or discounted public transport, people would no longer face barriers to accessing key public services, getting the job they want, or chasing the opportunities they deserve.

While most of the powers to deal with the cost-of-living crisis lie in Westminster, the introduction of free and discounted transport is something that Welsh Labour could implement through the Senedd. Both myself and the Welsh Liberal Democrats will be continuing to campaign to push the Welsh Labour Government to take the radical action that is needed to tackle this crisis head-on.

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21% of current or previous sponsors said the rise in cost-of-living had impacted their ability to provide support “quite a lot” and 9 per cent said it had “very much” harmed their ability to help their guests.

The government scheme, launched in March this year has seen around 75,000 Ukrainian refugees arrive in the UK. It has previously faced criticism for its ineffectiveness and lack of long-term plan.

Sponsors receive a £350 per month payment under the scheme to help offset their costs. However, this figure does not increase whether you have one or ten refugees in your home.

When offering to host, sponsors agreed to allow the refugees to remain in their homes for a minimum of six months. But now this deadline is fast-approaching, there is uncertainty about what comes next.

A sponsor who has been a host for five months now and wished to remain anonymous told Politics.co.uk that the scheme “was a complete let down to both the refugees and the host families”.

He added that he “had so far only received one of the five £350 payments that the government promised” and “can’t afford to house extra bodies in the current economy”. He noted that the idea of the Ukrainians becoming homeless or continuing their trauma is “heart-breaking” for him, but that he must put his own family first.

He hosts a mother and her 6-year-old son. Sveta, the mother, told us that she is “terrified” for what the next year will bring.

Shadow Levelling up, Housing and Communities Secretary Lisa Nandy, wrote on Twitter: “It’d be shameful if Ukrainian families who fled the bombs and bullets of Putin find themselves homeless in the UK because ministers have clocked off and put the Tory leadership race ahead of doing their jobs”.

The figures also found that over a quarter of sponsors who have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees under the government’s flagship scheme do not want to continue past the six-month period.

The ONS survey also revealed that almost all sponsors felt they had gone far beyond the scheme’s requirements, with 8 out of 10 saying they had provided food, two thirds saying they had helped them find work and 45% providing financial support.

It is the first time the ONS has published data on sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and it cautioned that the figures are experimental.

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