Prime Minister accused of pushing people into poverty to control inflation

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP has accused the UK Government of pushing people into poverty in a bid to control inflation.

Her comments were made during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (June 28) as she asked Rishi Sunak to explain to the one in five people in Wales facing hunger because they can’t afford to eat “why they must pay the price for cutting inflation”.

New figures by the Trussell Trust reveal that 20% of adults in Wales have experienced food insecurity in the 12 months to mid-2022.

This equates to an estimated 753,000 people in Wales.

This means that at some point over this period, they have run out of food and been unable to afford more, and/or reduced meal size, eaten less, gone hungry or lost weight due to lack of money.

Ms Saville Roberts said it was “corporate greed fuelling inflation, not workers’ need for fair wages”.

The deputy chief of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath said this week that there was a risk of “inflation getting entrenched” and that the IMF’s findings showed corporate profits had played a significant role in pushing inflation higher across Europe.

She said that “if inflation is to fall quickly, firms must allow their profit margins—which have shot up during the past two years—to decline and absorb some of the expected rise in labour costs”.

Inflation

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP said: “The Prime Minister’s solution to inflation is to push families into poverty while letting corporate profits pile up.

“The IMF said this week that the way to cut inflation is for companies to cut their profit margins. It’s corporate greed fuelling inflation, not workers’ need for fair pay.

“Can he explain to the one in five people in Wales facing hunger because they cannot afford to buy decent food – why they must pay his price for lowering inflation?”

After the session, Ms Saville Roberts added: “The Trussell Trust’s new figures reveal just how woeful a deal Welsh families suffer under Westminster.

“As corporations profiteer from the cost-of-living crisis, Rishi Sunak is content with telling hungry families that they should put up and shut up to cut inflation.

“From higher mortgages, soaring rents, declining wages and fewer life opportunities, all of these are disproportionately harming young people.

“People across Wales will rightly conclude that Westminster is not on their side. Rishi Sunak did absolutely nothing to convince us otherwise today.”

Rishi Sunak also faced calls to trigger a general election if he fails to hit his inflation reduction target.

The Prime Minister was described in the Commons as “literally the worst person” to be leading the country through a cost-of-living crisis because he “created it”.

“Tough decisions”

Mr Sunak sought to brush off the attacks from the Labour benches during PMQs on Wednesday, and criticised the Opposition’s plans for the economy, insisting he is “making difficult and tough decisions”.

He has previously pledged to halve the rate of inflation by the end of the year.

The Bank of England last week raised interest rates – adding to the mortgage misery for many – in a bid to tackle inflation, which has stuck at 8.7%.

Speaking in the Commons, Labour MP Alison McGovern (Wirral South) said Mr Sunak has promised to reduce inflation to 5% or lower by the end of the year before asking: “What will happen if he fails to meet that promise?

“Will it be yet more ranting on about the Labour Party or will it be the general election my constituents crave?”

Mr Sunak replied: “No, we’re sticking to the course of bringing inflation down.

“What the Labour Party needs to understand is that requires making difficult and tough decisions. It requires prioritising. It requires being able to say ‘no’ when people come looking, asking you to borrow more money.

“Those are the type of responsible decisions that I will make and the Conservative Government will make because they’re the right ones for the country.”

Labour former minister Sir Chris Bryant (Rhondda) earlier said: “The Prime Minister has had responsibility for the UK economy now for 1,323 days and he’s delivered…

“He’s delivered the largest national peacetime debt ever, the largest tax burden since the Second World War, the highest core inflation since 1991, the fastest interest rate rises since 1989 and the biggest fall in living standards in our history.

“So will he stop lecturing my constituents about holding their nerve, ditch the lame excuses and admit that he is literally the worst person to be leading this country through a cost-of-living crisis because as he created it?”

Mr Sunak, in his reply, said: “What do we hear from the party opposite? Only ideas that would make the situation far worse.”

He said Sir Chris has “sat there and supported” plans from Labour to borrow more money, claimed “unaffordable” union pay demands would “make the situation worse”, adding: “And (Sir Chris) has sat there and supported plans to not exploit our domestic sources of energy, imperilling our energy security.

“Those are all things that would make not just the situation worse for British families today but for years into the future.”

“Shut up”

After the session, Ms Saville Roberts added: “The Trussell Trust’s new figures reveal just how woeful a deal Welsh families suffer under Westminster.

“As corporations profiteer from the cost-of-living crisis, Rishi Sunak is content with telling hungry families that they should put up and shut up to cut inflation.

“From higher mortgages, soaring rents, declining wages and fewer life opportunities, all of these are disproportionately harming young people.

“People across Wales will rightly conclude that Westminster is not on their side. Rishi Sunak did absolutely nothing to convince us otherwise today.”