Don’t believe the Labour lies: you are not better-off than yesterday, even if you’ve had a pay rise, because bill and tax rises have wiped it out completely.
While the national minimum wage (I refuse to dignify it with the label “living wage”) has increased from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour, and the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds has risen from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour, these wage gains are not likely to be enough to offset the cumulative impact of rising household expenses.
Significant increases in essential bills, including energy, water, council tax, and telecommunications have all landed today – April 1, 2025.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The energy price cap has risen by 6.4 per cent, adding approximately £111 annually to the average household’s energy costs (but see Vox Political‘s article for the full details because it is actually worse than it may seem).
In England and Wales, water bills have surged by an average of 26 per cent, equating to an additional £123 per year for typical households. This is vastly more than we were originally led to believe – read this article for the numbers.
Many councils have implemented tax increases of up to 4.99 per cent, with some local authorities approved for hikes up to 9.99 per cent, disproportionately impacting lower-income households.
Broadband and mobile phone services have also seen price increases, with many contracts rising by amounts linked to inflation rates.
Add these all together, along with other increases also imposed now, and any boost provided by the minimum wage increases is wiped out.
Furthermore, the Labour benefit cuts are projected to push around 250,000 individuals, including 50,000 children, into poverty – exacerbating financial strains on the vulnerable.
Economic analyses suggest that despite government assertions of improving living standards, the reality for many households is one of financial strain.
But you won’t hear anything about that from the government!
Here’s Keir Starmer:
Here’s Angela Eagle:
Here’s Jonathan Reynolds:
The point made by the presenter in the Reynolds clip is pertinent: a rise in the minimum wage will only help one-tenth of working people – and we can’t be sure that they really will have had more money left over, after paying their living costs, at the end of March next year.
Starmer himself proposed an altogether better idea, back when he was Leader of the Opposition. Here it is:
That has not happened. Bills have not been frozen. Instead, Labour is allowing them to rise at hugely-accelerated rates – with ministers actually trying to justify the increases to the public. For example, here’s Jonathan Reynolds on water bill increases of more than a quarter:
And by the way: the government is not only allowing these price hikes; it is setting them. Here’s Martin Lewis to explain:
So we have a situation in which a government that promised to freeze bills and put more money in our pockets has in fact increased bills far beyond inflation, raised wages – but not enough to offset the increase in bills, and is trying to tell us that we are all better-off.
I once called this cost-of-living crisis the “death of a thousand cons”. This is the latest – but I fear it will not be the last.
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Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
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Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Don’t believe the Labour lies: you are not better-off
Don’t believe the Labour lies: you are not better-off than yesterday, even if you’ve had a pay rise, because bill and tax rises have wiped it out completely.
While the national minimum wage (I refuse to dignify it with the label “living wage”) has increased from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour, and the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds has risen from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour, these wage gains are not likely to be enough to offset the cumulative impact of rising household expenses.
Significant increases in essential bills, including energy, water, council tax, and telecommunications have all landed today – April 1, 2025.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The energy price cap has risen by 6.4 per cent, adding approximately £111 annually to the average household’s energy costs (but see Vox Political‘s article for the full details because it is actually worse than it may seem).
In England and Wales, water bills have surged by an average of 26 per cent, equating to an additional £123 per year for typical households. This is vastly more than we were originally led to believe – read this article for the numbers.
Many councils have implemented tax increases of up to 4.99 per cent, with some local authorities approved for hikes up to 9.99 per cent, disproportionately impacting lower-income households.
Broadband and mobile phone services have also seen price increases, with many contracts rising by amounts linked to inflation rates.
Add these all together, along with other increases also imposed now, and any boost provided by the minimum wage increases is wiped out.
Furthermore, the Labour benefit cuts are projected to push around 250,000 individuals, including 50,000 children, into poverty – exacerbating financial strains on the vulnerable.
Economic analyses suggest that despite government assertions of improving living standards, the reality for many households is one of financial strain.
But you won’t hear anything about that from the government!
Here’s Keir Starmer:
Here’s Angela Eagle:
Here’s Jonathan Reynolds:
The point made by the presenter in the Reynolds clip is pertinent: a rise in the minimum wage will only help one-tenth of working people – and we can’t be sure that they really will have had more money left over, after paying their living costs, at the end of March next year.
Starmer himself proposed an altogether better idea, back when he was Leader of the Opposition. Here it is:
That has not happened. Bills have not been frozen. Instead, Labour is allowing them to rise at hugely-accelerated rates – with ministers actually trying to justify the increases to the public. For example, here’s Jonathan Reynolds on water bill increases of more than a quarter:
And by the way: the government is not only allowing these price hikes; it is setting them. Here’s Martin Lewis to explain:
So we have a situation in which a government that promised to freeze bills and put more money in our pockets has in fact increased bills far beyond inflation, raised wages – but not enough to offset the increase in bills, and is trying to tell us that we are all better-off.
I once called this cost-of-living crisis the “death of a thousand cons”. This is the latest – but I fear it will not be the last.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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