MP concerned about the impact of the cost of living crisis on constituents

Kim Leadbeater, MP for Batley and Spen has received letters and emails from constituents revealing how widespread concerns about rising bills have become and the pressures both on people’s pockets and on their mental health and well-being. 

On the day Boris Johnson was asking his Cabinet for ideas to deal with rising prices, Kim said 12 years of economic mismanagement under the Conservatives had left ordinary people struggling with their household finances.  

Kim said: “As we get to the end of the month, more and more people are adding up the extra costs they have had to pay, as well as seeing the impact of tax rises in their pay packets. From the messages I have received, it’s clear that for many people these financial pressures are causing real distress and hardship.

There’s genuine concern that the scale of the cost-of-living crisis is leading to mental health issues with some individuals feeling they have nowhere to turn to for help. 

“A serving police officer in Batley and Spen contacted me recently to say that despite being on what many people would consider a decent wage, he is skipping meals so his children can eat and switching off the electricity in the evenings to cut costs. In his professional role, he reports having attended more mental health-related incidents than at any time in his career and fears a rise in suicides and attempted suicides. 

“A couple with two young children told me that despite both parents working in good jobs they are in the red by payday and are relying on credit cards to keep going. They tell me they are really struggling and scared of what the future will bring. 

“I hear from pensioners and others on benefits who have been turning the heating off and relying on food banks just to get to the end of the month. 

“What they all tell me is that the support they receive from the government is a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the crisis they are facing day today.     

“It is no good Ministers blaming Covid or the war in Ukraine or anything else. We are one of the richest economies in the world and it is simply not acceptable that the burden of coping with this crisis falls disproportionately on those on low and middle incomes who can least afford it. 

“It’s embarrassing that Boris Johnson is only now calling on his Cabinet to come up with ideas to deal with rising prices when it is in no small part due to twelve years of economic mismanagement under the Conservatives that ordinary people are struggling so much with their household finances”