The Government is ‘fire fighting’ to help the banking sector, but it is not just the bank sector that needs help from the Government the whole economy needs a boost from a change of thinking at the top. Inflation has hit as 16-year high and like everyone else in the country, residents of West End and Southampton are suffering from rocketing food and energy prices.
The government’s own figures show that bread is up a fifth, butter and eggs by over a third and potatoes by over a quarter. Local councillor David Goodall joined forces recently with the Liberal Democrats’ Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP to highlight the real increase in the cost of living. They took a supermarket basket of basic groceries which together cost less than £10 last year. The same basket now costs over £12, a quarter higher.
David Goodall said :-
“People are feeling the pain of the credit crunch and rocketing prices. The government is doing too little, too late to help people get through the hard times. We need to put money back in the pockets of people who are struggling to make ends meet. Liberal Democrats are calling for a 4p cut in the rate of income tax, paid for by upping taxes on pollution and closing tax loopholes used by the rich.”
And he continued :-
“We would also get tough on unnecessary and wasteful government spending, and use some of the money saved to cut taxes even further for those on low and middle incomes. And energy companies should be forced to use the £9 billion profit they have made from the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut bills and fight fuel poverty.”
The real cost of living on everyday items is rising at a greater than the latest 5.2% head rate as demonstrated by David Goodall and Vince Cable. The downturn in the economy is affecting the whole of the country and the Government must come forward with a plan to address the whole situation as the Liberal Democrats have done.
The Liberal Democrats have published the “Liberal Democrat Fairer Future Economic Recovery Plan”. This is existing party policy which will address the problems of the economy as a whole.
1. Action on the housing crisis – stop unnecessary repossessions and provide more social housing
2. Action to put more money in people’s pockets – tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes
3. Action to limit the excesses of the City
4. Action to deliver future economic stability
5. Action to cut energy bills and fight fuel poverty
6. Action to help people with debt problems
7. Action to help people who lose their jobs
8. Action to deliver ‘green-collar’ jobs and energy independence
9. Action to reinvigorate global trade
Only by following the above steps will the economy truly recover and prosper in the both the short and long term.