Labour’s ‘sustainability’ questioned by Lib Dem Chief Whip after inflation drop: ‘Prices are still rising!’
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain has welcomed the recent fall in UK inflation but called for “more progress” to be made.
Speaking to GB News, Chamberlain acknowledged the positive news whilst emphasising the ongoing impact on everyday items.
“Obviously the inflation fall is good news, but I think what’s really important to remember with inflation is, it just means that prices are still rising, but more slowly,” she said.
The MP highlighted the continued strain on household budgets, particularly for essentials like butter and cheese.
Official figures revealed today confirmed that UK inflation fell to 1.7 per cent in September, its lowest level in over three years, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had earlier described the drop in price rises as “welcome news for millions of families”.
Despite the positive trend, Chamberlain expressed concerns about sustaining this progress.
She pointed to potential challenges ahead, stating: “We’ve seen an increase to the energy price cap as well as the removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance. It’s still to be seen whether this fall in inflation can be sustained.”
However, Shadow Financial Secretary Nigel Huddleston warned of potential future spikes in inflation due to Labour’s spending policies.
He criticised the Government’s “£10billion splurge on inflation-busting pay increases” and other spending commitments, arguing these could reverse progress made in reducing inflation.
Announcing their first opposition day in Parliament for 15 years, where they will debate key manifesto pledges, Chamberlain also highlighted the party’s focus on NHS issues.
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“We’ve done polling that suggests that over a quarter of working UK adults have been unable to access an NHS appointment when they need them,” Chamberlain revealed.
The party is calling for guaranteed access to GPs, which includes training and delivering more GPs.
Chamberlain emphasised their commitment to “ensuring that we can actually deliver a stronger economy.”
Chamberlain told GB News: “The reality is the NHS, fixing social care, supporting unpaid carers, those are non-political issues in some respects and whichever Government is in power needs to tackle those issues.
“If the Government wants to take up some of our proposals, we’d welcome that.”