‘DESPITE Tory claims that the cost-of-living crisis is coming to an end, the truth is that inflation (RPI) is still outstripping wage growth,’ Unite said yesterday.
The ONS (Office for National Statistics) reported that inflation fell to 6.8% in the year to July, down from 7.9% in June.
Unite responded: ‘As people continue to be hammered by food and energy greedflation, they now face huge rises in rent and mortgage costs thanks to Bank of England interest rate rises.
‘Meanwhile, corporations continue to profit. The big four banks have published combined profits of over £29 billion for the first six months of 2023, up 77% on last year.’
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘The government, the Bank of England, and profiteering corporations will try to use today’s inflation figures to tell people the crisis is over, but workers won’t be fooled while they see prices and profits continue to rise faster than wages.
‘Until policy-makers stop attacking wages and take on the corporate profiteers there will be no end to this cost-of-living crisis.’
Jonathan Porteous, professor of economics at King’s College London and former chief economist for the Cabinet Office, said the poorest households have seen inflation up by around 3% more than the richest households over the past couple of years.
People with higher incomes are getting larger pay rises than those who earn less, he said.
‘What’s happening is we’re redistributing money from the relatively poor to the rich, and that’s not something the Bank of England can address with interest rate rises,’ Porteous said.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation Chief economist, Alfie Sterling, said the figures ‘will bring little respite to the 3.1 million low-income families with children already making sacrifices on essentials like food, basic toiletries, and adequate clothing’.
• See editorial
