Chancellor Rachel Reeves is trying not to tell British voters they’ll feel rich too hastily. Time is not on her side — and global turmoil is setting her back further
Dan Bloom, Emilio Casalicchio
Paul Ovenden, Starmer’s former No. 10 director of political strategy, argued that the U.K. is facing more than simply a cost of living crisis. There is now, he said, a “living standards crisis” whose roots are deeper, and that means structural change is needed.
“A cost of living crisis is basically about a spike in prices,” said Ovenden. “That is massive and real, but typically you would expect it to recede as wages catch up with inflationary spikes.
“A cost of living crisis doesn’t tell half the picture that we have here — which is that most people who made their career after the financial crash have seen their wages stall while the costs of housing, childcare, student debt and other things rise dramatically.”
One government frontbencher complained: “The entire strategy is that voters will be poorer in 2029 but we’ll (apparently) be able to point to the cranes in the sky.”
No one believes you
Even when good news lands, the public may not feel it. The recent fall in inflation means that prices are still rising, just by slightly less.
A poll of 2,010 people by pollster More in Common between Feb. 27 and March 2 found 59 percent were not sure the cost of living crisis will ever end — the highest in four years. “The only economic change the public have noticed is the rise in unemployment,” said Luke Tryl, More in Common’s director.
