Hardworking British families offer Rishi Sunak to alleviate pain from cost of living crisis

Millions of heavy-up Britons will look to Rishi Sunak tomorrow for every sign he captures of how horrific the cost of living crisis has become.

But with high energy and food bills, high inflation, the impending national insurance crisis and war in Ukraine hitting prices here, there are fears that his mini-budget will not be enough to alleviate the growing pain.

And yesterday, some of those who fell into poverty, either working or relying on benefits, asked the Chancellor for help just to get through.

Mother of four Racheal Vango pleads: “Help us please.”

The 31-year-old from Pudsey, Leeds, said the grocery store they pay to sanitary and heating engineer partner Mark Ramsay has risen by £ 100 a month to £ 660.

Will you fight? Join the discussion in the comments section

Racheal, who had to take over two jobs to meet the end, added: “We are working hard and should not crack down on paying the bills.

“Please do not set up National Insurance and help us with fuel and bills.” Single Mom Frate, 38, said, “It’s not just people with benefits who are suffering, this is all households.”

The chief nursing home housekeeper, from Ashford, Kent, said her disposable income had already been halved by high costs.

She added: “If it was just one thing, I think people would manage it, but it’s the National Insurance, gas and electricity, fuel and food that cry out every week. It’s too much at once. “

Chrissie Harris, 42, of Sutton, Surrey, said her family used blankets and jumpers instead of turning on the heater after raising her bill from £ 50 to £ 90 a month.

The mother of two said, “I just don’t seem to have any money left at the end of the month. I do not know where it’s going.”

Jackie Coxon lives on disability benefits with partner Jamie Coxon, who is her caregiver, and their three children.

The couple, both 34, are struggling with energy bills at their council house in Cottingham, East Yorks.

Jackie said, “It just feels like we’re alive but not blooming.

“I hope the Chancellor helps us. They must match the price of life.

Former Hygiene Manager Barry Tucker, who cares for his two children with complex needs in Fakenham, Norfolk, has switched to a food bank for the first time.

The 40-year-old said: “I think the government needs to realize what the families are going through, stressing day by day. I felt embarrassed to use things like food banks because I was always a working man, but it is arrived where I had no choice.

Matt Tovey, 30, a staff nurse at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, worked through the pandemic, making extra shifts to cover sick colleagues.

He said: “If you look at the NHS salary, in real terms since 2010, it has gone down by around £ 6,144 due to inflation. Petrol is £ 1.79 a liter, my mortgage is £ 500 a month, my car is £ 240 a month.

Gran Valerie Earle cried as she said how the £ 400 a month she receives in benefits does not leave her enough to eat.

Speaking at a food bank in Coventry, the 56-year-old said: “It’s disgusting, I’m here now because I’m literally hungry. If they raise prices, how should people live? Their 29-year-old daughter Patsi, a mother of four, represents an increase of 53% in energy bills.

With four-month-old son Kairoh by her side, she said, “How will I manage it? It’s awful, it’s not nice at all. I have to turn off the heating.”

Durham University undergraduate Walter Watson, 20, of Cambridge, said students struggle with food costs. He added: “I spend £ 50 a week on groceries alone, more would not be sustainable.”

Former soldier Harry Lay, 36, of Cricklade, Wilts, said: “It’s not true that by 2022 everyone has to use a food bank, but we use them every week. We get universal credit and can still not afford food for d. ‘Family to buy.

Michelle Hulbert, 51, told how her nail and beauty studio in Cottingham was badly affected by the pandemic. She added: “The government should help small businesses. They should cut the profits of mega-companies and not sting the rest of us. GMB general secretary Gary Smith called on Mr Sunak to help poorer families.

Get the stories you want straight into your inbox. Sign up for one of the Mirror newsletters

He said: “This cost of living crisis means millions of working people, NHS workers, operators, shop staff and many more, are struggling to pay bills.

“This government’s post-pandemic thanks to key workers is real wage-cutting conditions. And it’s only getting worse.”

Voice of the mirror

“Tomorrow, Rishi Sunak will have the chance to show that he understands how difficult life is for so many families in the UK.

Households across the country are struggling with rising food and fuel bills, sky-high gasoline prices and a squeeze on incomes caused by volatile inflation.

What the Chancellor announced today will determine whether a parent can afford to feed their children or a retiree heats their home.

It will mean the difference between a hot meal or another trip to the food bank. The difference between dignity in age or under blankets to keep warm.

A fair-minded chancellor would do the right thing by using the money in the treasury’s coffers to support the least.

He would increase pensions and post-inflation benefits to prevent more people from being drawn into poverty.

He would abolish the planned increase of the National Insurance and replace it with a more equitable tax system.

And he would set up oil and gas giants a windfall tax to pay for a VAT cut on fuel that would help millions of families.

This is the time for sympathetic action. Anything less would be a cold betrayal. “