Parents are struggling to keep their kids warm at night due to the cost of living crisis, says Gordon Brown.
The former Labor Prime Minister said there is a growing need for pillows, duvets, sheets and even beds as people are forced to sleep on the floor.
Mr Brown and Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford have written to Rishi Sunak to ask for more aid to be given to the poorest.
Mr Sunak pledged in his spring statement to “stand by” those struggling with the rising cost of essentials.
The Chancellor insisted the measures he announced on Wednesday would help those on the lowest wages the most.
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But he said he found it impossible to “fully compensate people” for rising energy costs, a challenge Britain is “not alone”.
Think tanks analyzing his mini-budget said that while Mr Sunak would benefit from the changes, Mr Sunak had done nothing to help people on welfare whose incomes would continue to fall.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Brown – who was Chancellor for 10 years before becoming Prime Minister in 2007 – said he hears stories about poverty that he never expected.
“Parents are reluctant to turn up their heating, so there’s a huge demand for sheets, pillows, duvets, anything to keep their kids warm on those colder nights, and that gets worse when fall comes,” he said.
“I [heard of] three children sleep under one sheet. You have people who don’t have essential bedding for their kids and who sleep on the floor.”
Mr Brown blamed the situation for freezing benefits in seven of the last 10 years and for child benefits now being worth 20% less than in 2010.
He has written to Mr Sunak, along with Labor Council leaders, Tube Mayors and First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, to call for next month’s National Insurance increase to be scrapped and Universal Credit increased by £20 bring back and increase benefits according to the current rate of inflation.
“Any caring and compassionate chancellor would want to do something about this poverty,” Brown said, warning that the Tories could become known as “the bad party” again.
“This is an emergency, it’s a cost of living crisis, and you can’t ignore the needs of people who are deciding between turning up their heat … or feeding their kids,” he added.
“It’s just not an acceptable situation.
“The chancellor’s actions have an urgency and he cannot turn away from that.”
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