Since January 2023, 92% of UK households have reported that their cost of living has increased when compared to the previous year. The cost of living crisis has continued to grow exponentially causing 86% of Brits to be concerned about the costs of day-to-day life. As easy as it is for the government to blame the cost of living on outside issues like COVID-19 or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of course, they have a hand to play in the whole disaster. Not to mention, the cost of living crisis doesn’t seem to be affecting politicians or the rich similarly. It’s one thing for us and another for them.
The cost of living crisis has resulted in energy prices soaring, increased costs of consumer goods and housing. Now although these are matters that impact everyone across the spectrum, the rich are simply not feeling the pressure as much as your average person. Take rising energy costs for example, the amount you pay is largely dependent on how energy efficient your home is. So to put it simply, the most energy-efficient homes pay the least, while the least energy-efficient homes pay the most. According to 2020 statistics, 48% of the poorest households are considered to be low on the energy efficiency scale.
Novara Media reported that “the poorest households' energy costs will rise to an estimated 18% of their spending – whilst the richest will see it rise to only 7%.”
Towards the end of 2022, while the majority of the nation came to terms with the prospect of austerity and cuts to benefits, the super-rich was blessed with tax cuts. In November of 2022, the Resolution Foundation reported that “the richest 10% of households in effect faced an inflation rate 1.5 per cent lower than the poorest 10%.” They also predicted that income inequality could rise as high as 40.8% by 2027-2028.
The biggest slap in the face recently that really reinforced how unbothered the rich are by the cost of living crisis was when Shell revealed its 2022 profits. So while we as consumers have had to face staggering prices, with many people struggling to make ends meet and others being forced to turn off their energy to avoid costs, Shell bragged about making $40 billion in profits. Talk about not knowing how to read the room. The logical thing for the government to do would be to increase the windfall tax, which would not only ease pressure on us but somewhat stop energy giants like Shell from exploiting us.
Unfortunately, under the Tories, logical thinking doesn't tend to happen often.
Alongside the rich, continuing to live unfazed by the crisis are the very people enabling them, the government. Under UK law, MPs are paid an annual salary of £79,468 and can also claim publicly-funded expenses “for expenditure for parliamentary purposes”. Now, these expenses should include things like travel and housing, but it seems as though to some MPs travel means a private jet flight from one English city to another. While others, like Liz Truss, feel as though their Amazon Prime subscription is an appropriate thing to expense on taxpayers' money.
But the biggest signifier of ‘it's one rule for us and another for them’ is the fact that MPs are able to get away with expensing their utility bills. So while energy prices continue to soar they continue to bleed out the public purse. Yet there’s apparently no money to fund public services?
For us everyday people, there’s no denying that the cost of living crisis is and is only predicted to get worse. But the super-rich are able to live in la la land, oblivious to the increasing poverty around them.
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