Miliband to warn on inflation
LABOUR leader Ed Miliband will today warn of a “cost of living crisis” for middle-earners, who he claims will be hit the hardest by looming inflation.
Miliband will argue in a speech this morning that a mix of rising prices, spending cuts and benefit changes will make life difficult for middle-income families.
In an effort to rekindle Labour’s ties to the “squeezed middle” and capitalise on fears of inflation, Miliband is expected to say that wage freezes risk affecting lower earners long after the broader economy recovers.
Miliband will warn that a “British promise… that the next generation would always do better than the last is under threat like never before” in a speech at the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank chaired by Resolution founder Clive Cowdery.
The foundation is launching a commission on living standards, which will research the long-term pressures on people with low to middle incomes.
The thinktank has already produced data suggesting that average pay in 2015 will be no more than it was in 2003 once inflation has been factored in.
“While those at the top have done well, middle and low earners are no longer guaranteed the proceeds of growth,” Miliband is expected to say.
“Our economy is increasingly unfair not just for those at the bottom but for many of those in the middle as well.”