The Tories must treat the cost-of-living crisis with the same urgency as Covid

Birmingham City Council was one of the first to float the idea of operating ‘warm banks’ across our city this winter. My colleague, councillor John Cotton, has led the way. I will always be proud of the work Labour is doing to protect as many people as possible from the harsh winter ahead – a winter made more vicious by Tory lack of action.

This is in 2022. As Liz Truss would say (often about issues far less meaningful than this): “That. Is. A. Disgrace.” Truss has given us a few good laughs in the past, but the British people won’t be laughing this winter. It’s not just energy prices going up. Rent is going up, food has gone up, the cost of taking your kids for a day out has also gone up, school uniforms are extortionate, and the lack of investment in skills and industry has meant that wages aren’t enough to pay the bills. The old Tory adage telling people to ‘live within their means’ grinds my gears more than ever. 

I volunteer at a local food pantry in my ward of Allens Cross. It’s in the marginal constituency of Northfield, and we help up to 150 people a week. The fact that this many people need our help each week causes me distress. Far more people need our service, but we only have memberships for 150 people. For £5, residents within a three-mile radius can get £15 to £20 worth of shopping. Choice is at the heart of this, and money is essential to maintain our service, choice and dignity. Why shouldn’t people who are struggling have a choice in the food they buy? Why shouldn’t they have nice things or be able to take their kids on a day out? I’m currently trying to fundraise via Crowdfunder for St Bart’s food pantry, because if we don’t, our residents won’t get a choice in the food they receive.

You should be able to take your kids on a day out or have nice things, even if you’re struggling. The Conservatives just don’t seem to think this way. Of course, you need to live within your means – but if you’re already working full-time and picking up all the overtime you can get your hands on, is it that simple? Or should we look to the government to stand up and finally do their job by helping British households? The facade of ‘living within your means’ is rubbish when the government are causing our means to suffer. 

I struggle to wrap my head around what we are forced to do in Birmingham as an administration: opening warm banks. Why is this the norm? Surely, we’re better than this as a country. So many of my constituents have shed tears to me as they think of the winter ahead. Poverty isn’t fun; it’s not a buzzword. Yet when we talk about Tory cuts and poverty, Conservative councillors roll their eyes and tell us to stop talking about it. Of course, I wouldn’t want people talking about my government’s failures either, but we’re elected to do something about those problems – not find excuses for them.

The Conservatives will try and delegitimise us. They’ll try hard to show us up and embarrass us. To the Conservatives, it’s all just a game. They’ve tried to push me down a peg or two myself. They don’t like it when we speak truth to power. They are nasty in governance, politics and behaviour. News of recent days and weeks, alongside interactions with my constituents, has brought me to tears but led me to resolve to campaign even harder to get the Conservatives out of government.

Truss wants to put the rise in energy costs on the government credit card – but that means millions of British people picking up the tab. The Prime Minister should avoid reducing corporation tax and carry out a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies. Instead, we’ll have to pay for the rise in energy costs over the next few years through government cuts. I wonder when we’ll get to a stage where there isn’t anything left to cut.

If you’re a Conservative, my plea to you is simple. Treat this cost-of-living crisis with the same fever as you treated the Covid pandemic. This is a global crisis, but our government could intervene. Not only will inaction cause poor health for many of our residents, but it could be fatal for so many. Last week, I wrote for LabourList about how Labour in local government delivered us a successful Commonwealth Games; the disparities between Labour and the Tories are stark, but the suffering is all the more real.