- Cymraeg
- English
 |
Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
 |
Fuel and food price rises will leave the poorest vulnerable - Black
July 9, 2008 12:00 AM
Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Social Justice Peter Black AM has expressed his anxiety at the impact of rising food and fuel prices upon the poorest households in Wales this coming winter.
Mr. Black was speaking following a recent report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which found that a single person with no children needs £158 a week to meet a 'minimum income standard' covering a basic standard of living but excluding housing costs. The state pension for such a person is £90.70.
Mr. Black said:
"The Foundation didn't go for an academic measure. Instead they asked 39 groups of people from different types of home up and down the UK for their views. This is what the people of this country think their fellow-citizens should be getting.
"Here in Wales we are over 20% behind UK average income, and at the moment there seems to be no let-up in the cascade of bad news for Welsh families, particularly those on lower and fixed incomes.
"The average family is already spending £8 more a week for the same food items as they were paying last year, and we already know that average household fuel bills are going to be above £1000 a year.
"If prices keep rising, many more people in Wales will be faced with the choice of either eating, or keeping themselves warm next winter. In a country as rich as the UK, no citizen should be faced with such a choice. It is immoral.
"The Conservative approach is to urge the poor not to be poor. Labour, on the other hand, had 12 years of economic prosperity in which to make sense of our pension and benefit systems. They have not done so.
"Nobody is saying that the rise in world fuel prices or the global credit crunch is Labour's fault. However, protecting our most vulnerable citizens is their responsibility. It will take more than derisory increases in winter fuel payments, and an extra 25p a week for the over 80s to do so."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats
-
Help out or donate
-
Tell us what you think