MP Mary Glindon column: Change and the cost of living crisis

The big issue at those elections, as it will be nationally, is whether people feel better off.

The obvious and overwhelming answer is no. The prices of basic foodstuffs just keep going up. The Consumer group Which? says, for instance that cheese, sugar, eggs, and white sliced bread have gone up by 20-49% over the last year.

The Office for National Statistics recently said our weekly shop was up by 19% and the highest since 1977.

And many basic goods will stay at higher prices even if inflation falls.

As well as food, many face soaring costs for energy, rents, and mortgages in a vicious circle.

In these circumstances, households across the country are falling even and ever deeper in debt.

Last month, an estimated two million households missed or defaulted on a payment.

The Mental Health Foundation expects the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on mental health to be like the strain caused by the Covid pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s glib and cheap quips in the Commons are not fooling anyone. He is clearly out of touch in his comfortable bubble.

My party has become the largest party in local government. Newly elected Labour councils are uniting to create emergency cost of living action plans and review local housing plans.

The local elections show that change is on its way and cannot come soon enough for those who are struggling to make ends meet and in a country where services don’t work well for most people.