Working People’s Finances: Government Policy

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Colleen Fletcher

Tuesday 21st September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) for that very interesting analysis of what we ought to be doing now.

For households and families living on the edge, a cost of living crisis is a crisis that they simply cannot afford. To cite just one statistic, in my constituency of Coventry North East, the rate of child poverty already stands at 29%. Once the cuts to universal credit, the rise in national insurance contributions and an increase in a wide range of household bills are factored in, I am certain that the number will rise significantly. A cost of living crisis, therefore, will not just result in a short-term squeeze on family finances but will have a long-term corrosive impact on the life chances of thousands of children across the country.

Many of the people I represent in the community I grew up in work hard but in low-paid and often insecure jobs. The Government’s disregard for, or lack of understanding of, the challenges that these communities face was demonstrated recently by the Work and Pensions Secretary, who claimed that individuals facing the £20 cut to universal credit should work two more hours a week. Yet it was soon made clear that in fact it would take about nine more hours a week to make back the £20 cut. Is the Work and Pensions Secretary seriously saying to these people that they should essentially have a six-day working week: that they should sacrifice their weekends; their family time; their time for rest and relaxation? It is all well and good saying that we need better-paid and more secure work, but in communities like Coventry North East we need Government investment and support to make it a reality. So far, despite all we have heard about levelling up, we have not seen any tangible evidence of this in Coventry.

[Alex Cunningham]

My hon. Friend knows that these people use the same supermarkets that she and I use, and they have so much less money. She knows, as I do, about supply and demand, and if there is less food and less product around, the prices go up. I do not go to supermarkets very often, but recently, when I do, I have noticed that product is being fronted on the shelves with very little behind it, so there might only be 20 or 30 cans of beans instead of 200 because there is a food shortage in some product areas. Does she agree that the Government really need to act on employment and getting drivers in place so that we do not face these kinds of shortages?

[Colleen Fletcher]

I thank my hon. Friend. Unlike him, I do go shopping a lot. I spend a whole lot of my time in supermarkets, for different reasons, and I entirely agree with him. I see that around my constituency an awful lot, not just doing food shopping, I hasten to add, but other shopping as well, which I thoroughly enjoy when I have the time for it.

It becomes clearer each day that the interests of my constituents will never be served by a Tory Government who simply do not understand, or do not want to understand, the difficulties faced by my constituents. Successive tax rises have demonstrated that even though my constituents were some of the worst affected by the pandemic, in terms of their health as well as their finances, the Government have made the political decision to ensure that they will bear the bulk of the costs of this crisis and will be offered scant support if they are struggling.

I urge the Government to pause and reflect on their recent decisions and offer a better deal for people like those who live in the communities that I represent to ensure that we can get through any cost of living crises together.