The United Kingdom needs an emergency budget to address the cost-of-living crisis, Labor leader Keir Starmer told the BBC.
“It’s the single biggest issue,” he said. “Millions of people are struggling to pay their bills.”
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The government’s response has been “woeful,” making “a bad situation worse,” by increasing national insurance contributions weeks after a price cap on gas and electricity rose by 54 percent.
Consumers in the UK are struggling with a surge in energy bills, higher taxes and the strongest inflation in three decades. Data published Friday showed UK consumer confidence plunged to the lowest since the 2008 recession.
Starmer called for a windfall tax on energy companies operating in the North Sea.
The opposition leader also criticized a government plan to send asylum seekers who cross the English Channel into Britain to live in Rwanda, calling it “unethical and unworkable,” and saying it will also “cost a fortune.”
He backed international action to crack down on the criminal gangs trafficking people.
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