Organisations representing millions tell new PM: cost of living crisis needs structural fix, not sticking plasters
27 organisations call on the Prime Minister to take action across costs, incomes and tax, recognising ‘the urgency of the situation nationwide and the need for structural changes to address it.’
As Andy Burnham takes office as Prime Minister, he has committed to provide ‘breathing space’ to people struggling with the cost of living. He is expected to set out more detail on his plans tomorrow (Tuesday 21 July).
Ahead of that speech, a group of civil society organisations, charities and a trade union have written to the Prime Minister with a proposed approach. They welcome his commitments on the cost of living so far but suggest that he must ‘go even further to rewire the way the economy works.’ They call for a mix of immediate help and bigger reforms ‘to fix broken markets, take a stand against profiteering and make life’s essentials affordable for everyone.’
Specifically, they suggest the following priorities:
- ‘Ensuring everyone has access to the income they need to live well’: this includes major reforms to the social security system ‘so everyone can afford the essentials’ and the extension of fair pay agreements across the economy to secure ‘decent wages and conditions for all.’
- ‘Reducing costs so that everyone can afford the essentials’:
- This includes reforms to the energy system, with an ‘essential energy guarantee’ to reduce the cost of energy bills for the majority of households in the short-term, and ‘cracking down on profiteering and shifting to ownership for the public benefit’ to reduce long-term costs.
- It also includes a mix of immediate relief and structural solutions on housing: ‘pairing your commitment to large-scale social housebuilding with private sector rent controls.’
- ‘Rebalancing the tax system with an annual wealth tax and fairer and better taxes on wealth: this is a fundamental step to reduce the inequalities that are at the root of so many of our problems, and would generate over £40 billion each year to fund your other priorities.’
Signatories to the letter include the National Education Union, 38 Degrees, the New Economics Foundation and Compass. The letter was coordinated through the Cost of Living Action coalition, which also signs on behalf of its 41 members, including UNISON, Save the Children and Greenpeace.
Conor O’Shea, coordinator of the Cost of Living Action coalition, said:
“As he takes office as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham knows that the ongoing cost of living crisis is the greatest challenge he faces. Millions across the country cannot afford the essentials and feel that the government is to blame.
“He has rightly promised to provide ‘breathing space’ on the cost of living. To meet the scale of the challenge we face, this must include both immediate measures, such as support on energy bills and rent controls, as well as the longer term solutions like public control of energy, a sustained social housebuilding programme and a fairer taxation system. Now is the time to turn positive words into action.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- A copy of the letter and a full list of signatories can be found here or in Annex A.
- Spokespeople are available for broadcast, Please contact Conor O’Shea, Campaign Coordinator, Cost of Living Action (E) conor@econchange.org// (M) +447960984679.
- This letter was coordinated by the Cost of Living Action coalition. The campaign is led by a core steering group of three organisations: the Economic Change Unit, Tax Justice UK, and the New Economics Foundation. The coalition is made up of 41 civil society organisations, unions and grassroots groups, united around practical demands to reduce costs, increase incomes and introduce fairer and better taxes on wealth. A full list of members is available on our website.
Annex A:
Dear Prime Minister,
Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister.
You are taking office at a time when millions of people across the country are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of essentials has been rising for so long that the cost of living crisis has started to feel like a permanent state of affairs. It is safe to say that this will be a defining issue of your premiership. As a group of organisations representing millions of members, we are writing to impress upon you the urgency of the situation nationwide and the need for structural changes to address it.
The roots of the crisis lie in a broken economic model. Consistent price hikes in housing, energy and other essentials are decimating household budgets while wages and social security have not kept up. Salaries that used to afford a comfortable life no longer do, while some corporations and the record number of billionaires have never had it better.
Polling consistently shows that the cost of living crisis is the number one issue for the public, significantly outstripping other factors such as immigration and healthcare. Yet our recent polling found that 80% of people think the government is doing badly at managing the cost of living, including 63% of those who voted Labour in 2024.
We welcome your determination to address some of the root causes of the crisis. By highlighting the need for public control across key industries in your speech at the People’s History Museum on Monday 29 June, you have set out a pathway to remove the profiteering that adds so much to our monthly bills. Your commitment to the biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period would be transformative for those who have suffered too long from spiralling housing costs and insufficient public provision.
You have our support in delivering on these commitments. But for the change required, and for people across the country to feel it, your government must go even further to rewire the way the economy works. To do this, we suggest the following priorities:
i) Ensuring everyone has access to the income they need to live well. This means providing decent wages and conditions for all by extending fair pay agreements across the economy, and reforming the social security system so everyone can afford the essentials.
ii) Reducing costs so that everyone can afford the essentials. This means cutting energy bills for the majority with an essential energy guarantee; and reducing overall system costs by cracking down on profiteering and shifting to ownership for the public benefit. It also means pairing your commitment to large-scale social housebuilding with private sector rent controls, to deliver more immediate relief on housing costs.
iii) Rebalancing the tax system with an annual wealth tax and fairer and better taxes on wealth. This is a fundamental step to reduce the inequalities that are at the root of so many of our problems, and would generate over £40 billion each year to fund your other priorities.
Not only would these policies get to the heart of the problems we face, but they are popular too. Polling demonstrates that each commands majority support from the general public, as well as across the political spectrum - with clear majorities among those intending to vote for both Labour and Reform UK at the next general election.
You have rightly pointed to the need for long term plans to fix broken markets, take a stand against profiteering and make life’s essentials affordable for everyone. But you have also rightly said that people need help now. Your first months in office - and particularly your first Budget - are crucial for showing the public that you’re ready to govern for them, by taking real steps to alleviate this crisis.
We would like to invite you to discuss these proposals and the state of the living standards crisis with the Cost of Living Action coalition, the central coalition - representing vast swathes of the public - campaigning on this issue, at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Conor O’Shea, Campaign Coordinator, Cost of Living Action
Katy Styles, Founder, WeCare Campaign
Ruth Hannan & Hannah Webster, Co-Founders, CareFull
Sara Hall, Co-Executive Director, Positive Money
Rebecca Gowland, Executive Director, Patriotic Millionaires UK,
Sabine Goodwin, Director, Independent Food Aid Network
Kate Metcalf, Co-Director, Women’s Economy Network
Claire Godfrey, Executive Director, Balanced Economy Project
Nicola Booth, Chair of Trustees, Single Parents Support and Advice Services
Heidi Chow, Executive Director, Debt Justice
Veronica Hawking, Campaigns Director, 38 Degrees
Fatima Ibrahim, Co-Executive Director, Green New Deal Rising
Eleesha Taylor-Barrett, Chair, ACORN
Dr. Faiza Shaheen, Executive Director, Tax Justice UK
Ruth London, Director, Fuel Poverty Action
Tom Burgess, CEO, Taxpayers Against Poverty
Laurence Blackwell-Jones, Executive Director, Rethinking Economics International
Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Chief Executive, Generation Rent
Dr. Will Stronge, Chief Exec, The Autonomy Institute
Jo Wittams and Priya Sahni-Nicholas, Co-Executive Directors, Equality Trust
Mike O’Brien, Co-Founder/Trustee, VOICES ADFOCAD
Mark E Thomas, Founder, The 99% Organisation
Adina Claire, Interim Executive Director, Economic Change Unit
Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation
Hirra Khan Adeogun and Juliet Michaelson, Co-Directors, Possible
Lena Swedlow, Deputy Director, Compass
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, National Education Union
