Cost of Living Increases

Anum Qaisar Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ms Anum Qaisar (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie). I listened to his contribution with interest. I just remind Conservative Members, in the politest of manners, that in last year’s May elections the people of Scotland continued our tradition of rejecting the Conservatives’ xenophobic and far-right policies.

Before I continue, I want to put on record my congratulations to my predecessor and constituency colleague, Neil Gray, who is set to join the Scottish Government as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development. I know he is well respected across the House.

Yesterday we heard the interesting news that there were further allegations of Islamophobia within the Conservative party. That came as no surprise to me, of course, because we have seen Conservative MPs support a Prime Minister who has openly and publicly said that veiled Muslim women look like letterboxes. However, regardless of faith, or no faith, there is one community that the Conservatives have continually attacked since coming into power in 2010—the working-class community. The Conservatives have proved time and again that they only have the interests of one community at the heart of their policies, and that is those who are rich. The United Kingdom has the highest poverty rate in north-west Europe, and most people across all four nations have experienced some sort of financial hardship through the pandemic. But at the exact same time, we saw the UK gain a record number of billionaires, and it now stands at 171. Those billionaires do not have to worry about spending money on food or fuel, about how they will afford rent, or about losing their jobs. The Government did create some policies in response to the pandemic, but the crucial matter to remember is that while the Tories gave with one hand, they took with the other. I was inundated with correspondence from constituents when the Government made the horrific decision to cut universal credit by £20 a week. Then, just weeks later, they decided that they would hike national insurance. This is a series of continued attacks against working class communities.

The reality for people is that the cost of living is mounting. In my constituency of Airdrie and Shotts, I receive regular correspondence on this. My team and I are currently working with a constituent whose only source of heating, due to a number of different factors, is two halogen heaters. They are expensive to run, and his running costs are over £60 a week. By comparison, according to Usave, the average cost for heating a one-bed flat is about £29 a month. So my constituent is faced with a decision every single day—does he heat his food or does he heat his home? His reality is not having parties in his back garden, or asking his rich mates to decorate his flat, or deciding what cheese goes with what wine. His reality is that the majority of his income has to be spent on heating his property, so he is often left without money for food or other essentials. Just yesterday, I also received correspondence from an elderly constituent, worried that she will be unable to keep up with fuel costs. That is the reality of our jobs as Members of Parliament. I am receiving regular correspondence from constituents who are genuinely worried about how they will afford the growing cost of living.

The Chancellor has an opportunity to introduce an emergency financial package to help people with that growing cost. There are a number of things he could do. One option to tackle fuel poverty could be reducing VAT on energy bills, which would save about £90 per customer and is backed by some in the industry. Loans could be given to energy companies which would, in turn, help consumers. The Government could increase minimum wage rates to bring them into line with the real living wage, and the completely inadequate statutory sick pay could also be increased to match it. Those are just a few steps that the Government could take to ensure that the most vulnerable in our communities are not left to suffer.

We have a Prime Minister who is asleep at the wheel, a Government who are trying to keep him in power, and Back-Bench Tory MPs who are either writing letters to the 1922 Committee or trying to Save Big Dog—who knows?—while households across the country are having to prepare for the uncertainty that is about to follow. With soaring energy prices and inflation and the cost of living rising, the Prime Minister seems to be intent on ensuring that his own skin is saved, rather than protecting the most vulnerable in our society.