division_name: Cost of Living Increases
motion: <p class="indent" pid="c659.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House condemns successive Conservative Governments for their mismanagement of the economy over 13 years; regrets that this has resulted in the UK being the only G7 economy that is still smaller than before the pandemic, with squeezed wages and higher mortgage rates that have increased costs by &#163;500 a month for some households; further regrets that successive Chancellors have made working people pay for the Government&#8217;s economic failure with 24 tax rises since 2019, creating the highest tax burden in 70 years, while refusing to abolish the non-domicile tax loophole; is extremely concerned about the impact on household budgets of an inflation rate of more than 10 per cent with food prices rising at their fastest rate in 45 years; therefore calls on the Government to ease the cost of living crisis by freezing council tax this year, paid for by an extended windfall tax on oil and gas company profits; further calls on the Government to cut business rates for small businesses and support energy intensive industries including food manufacturers with their energy bills to help bring down the cost of everyday items; and finally calls on the Government to adopt Labour&#8217;s economic mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 with good jobs in every part of the country.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c659.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The declinists are wrong and the optimists are right. We stick to the plan because the plan is working.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="">15 March 2023</phrase>; Vol. 729, c. 847.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c664.6/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;further calls on the Government to cut business rates for small businesses&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c665.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes the Government&#8217;s action to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt; supports the Government&#8217;s extensive efforts to support families up and down the country with the cost  of living through significant support to help with rising prices, worth an average of &#163;3,300 per household including direct cash payments of at least &#163;900 to the eight million most vulnerable households; notes the use of a windfall tax on energy firm&#8217;s profits to pay around half of the typical family&#8217;s energy bill through the Energy Price Guarantee, also notes the fact that the Government has frozen fuel duty for 13 consecutive years to support motorists; welcomes the expansion of free childcare to all eligible parents of children aged nine months to four years old; and notes that Labour will fail to grip inflation or boost economic growth, with their plans for the economy simply leading to unfunded spending, higher debt and uncontrolled migration.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c669.2/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;nine in ten families on Universal Credit said they couldn&#8217;t afford the essentials in October last year. Since then, inflation has been in double digits&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c669.2/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;by the end of 2021, Brexit had already cost UK households a total of &#163;5.8 billion in higher food bills&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c669.2/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;can be seen as the guilty culprit in Britain&#8217;s inflationary crisis.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c683.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Despite the rise in wholesale prices, Tesco, Sainsbury&#8217;s and Asda still managed to increase their profits by an astonishing 97% in 2021.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c683.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Corporations have a significant amount of power in markets&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c683.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Governments have tools in place to stabilise prices.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c687.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It&#8217;s been a busy start to the year&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c687.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;we&#8217;ve already sent out 1500 emergency food supplies to 3647 people supporting 1210 households in East Lothian. Last month&#8230;saw the highest demand ever for foodbank services with 565 emergency food supplies&#8230;1 in 3 people supported were children.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c697.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Dear Chief Secretary, I&#8217;m afraid there&#8217;s no money left.&#8221;</p>