Dear Kwasi,

RE: Uprating social security benefits in line with inflation

I am writing to urge you to do the right thing by uprating social security benefits in line with inflation. Reports this week have suggested that you plan to raise social security by only 5.4%, based on the rise in wages. This would be an extremely regressive measure that would further deepen poverty. In addition, this would follow a real terms cut of around 6% in social security in the current year.

Any measure that doesn’t seek to uprate social security will have an unequal impact especially on low-income households and disabled people.

The current economic crisis is a Conservative crisis and will be paid for by working people. The former chief advisor to the Bank of England says that, as a result of the budget, “we can say goodbye to growth”. The enormous unfunded tax cuts for those at the top has caused people to be worse off as they face higher mortgages and soaring interest rates. This has caused a run on the pound and will have lasting negative consequences despite your U-turn on the removal of the top rate of tax.

The budget, together with the cost-of-living and energy price crises, has caused considerable hardship for some of my constituents in Battersea. Inflation is around 10%, interest rates are now forecast to be around 5% because of the budget by the end of the year, and household energy prices have been capped at a level still double what they were a year ago.

People need support. That’s why it is vital that the government commits to increasing social security in line with the current rate of inflation.

It would be indefensible and morally wrong if the government prioritises tax reductions for the wealthiest whilst not providing support to households struggling in this Tory cost-of-living crisis.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

Marsha de Cordova

Member of Parliament for Battersea