Keir Starmer: 'Practical solution' to cost of living crisis 'staring the Prime Minister in the face'

The pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to take decisive action and offer more support to low-income households struggling with rising food and energy costs, after inflation hit a 40-year high.

But earlier this week a Labour amendment to the Queen’s Speech, calling for a new tax on the profits of oil and gas producers, was defeated by 310 votes to 248 and not supported by any Conservative MP.

Sir Keir said a one-off tax on these companies, which have benefited from high global prices, would raise billions of pounds which could be used to reduce people’s energy bills by up to £600 over the year.

During a visit to Leeds, he said: “That practical solution is staring the Prime Minister in the face and what did he do earlier this week? He chose to vote it down.

“What answer has he got? Absolutely none. The cabinet are running around like headless chickens without an answer to the single most pressing issue for people across the country.”

He added: “Almost everybody in West Yorkshire who comes up to me says the same thing, which is ‘Keir I can’t pay my bills and the Government’s not doing anything to help me’.

“They’re right about that. Whether it’s inflation, food prices or fuel prices, they’re all through the roof and wages are through the floor and the Government has decided to impose even more tax on people.

“People are really, really struggling in West Yorkshire, tossing and turning in their beds about the bills they can’t pay.”

It comes after Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), which represents companies in the oil and gas industry, warned the Government earlier this week a windfall tax would put investment and jobs at risk.

OEUK also said the industry is expected to pay around £7.8bn in taxes, as a result of a global rise in oil and gas prices, and there is now a need for “stability and predictability” as it looks to make long-term investments.

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has said Ministers are “intrinsically opposed to that kind of taxation” and it wants to allow companies to make investments to address “our medium and long-term energy problems”.

But Ministers are also facing calls from Tory backbenchers to cut taxes, restore the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift and bring forward a summer support package to help the most vulnerable households, in response to the cost-of-living increases.

Figures this week showed Consumer Prices Index inflation hit 9 per cent in April, but analysts suggested the rate for the poorest households, which spend a higher proportion of their income on food and energy, was more than 10 per cent.

It comes after millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year increase in their energy bills last month.

Sir Keir met with Labour mayors from across the North in Leeds yesterday, including new South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, to discuss what is being done to help households deal with the cost of living crisis.

Ms Brabin said she is working to make bus travel more affordable, improve adult education and training, to help them access better paid jobs, and encouraging businesses to commit to paying the National Living Wage, as around 170,000 workers in West Yorkshire are earning less.

She added: “But we have to get the message across to the Government: ‘You have to do your bit, we can’t do it all on our own’.

“I would suggest bringing back that £20 uplift of Universal Credit is one thing they could do overnight to make a massive difference.”