I promised to make life easier for working people - freezing rail fares is just the start, writes Sir Keir Starmer

I get it. I grew up in the 1970s, during another cost of living crisis. My dad, a toolmaker, worked every hour to provide for us, while also caring for my mum, who had Still’s disease.

Every bill mattered. Every cost was counted. And I know that rings true for families right across Britain now.

That’s why I’ve pledged to do everything I can to tackle Britain’s cost of living crisis – and bring down costs for working people across the country.

That means working hard on the big issues like bringing inflation down.

But it also means doing everything possible to help with those everyday costs people face – like their commute to work by train.

Because when you’re working hard just to make ends meet, it doesn’t seem right to be paying out more and more just to get to work in the first place.

That’s why today, we’re freezing passenger rail fares for the first time in 30 years.

Millions of commuters will benefit – with those on the more expensive routes saving more than £300 per year.

Passengers will save hundreds of pounds off their season tickets, costs will be frozen for travellers, and growth supported in town centres across the country.

And with transport costs making up 14% of household spending, the move will provide real savings for households.

And it’s part of our wider plans to rebuild a railway Britain can be proud of and rely on, with Great British Railways putting passengers over profit.

Because your commute shouldn’t keep eating away at even more of your pay packet. And next year it won’t.

When you’re juggling the bills, every pound can make a difference.

And since Labour came into government, we’ve shown we’re on the side of working people, easing the pressures where we can.

We’ve raised the minimum wage to make sure work pays, giving more than three million people a pay rise in the process.

We’re helping more people keep their homes warm, by expanding the Warm Homes Discount, and knocking £150 off the energy bills of six million households this winter.

We’re helping working parents by expanding free childcare. We’ve required schools to limit the amount of branded school uniform items, and we’ve extended free school meals to an extra half a million children. And now we’re expanding free breakfast clubs, meaning more children can start the school day with food in their belly, ensuring they are ready to learn.

Each of these measures can help in their own right. But taken together, they start to add up.

And we won’t stop until we make life better for families across the country.

This won’t happen overnight. But little by little we will tackle the cost of living crisis and continue laying the foundations for economic growth across the UK.

That’s why in the coming budget, the Chancellor will take the tough but right decisions needed to keep inflation down, protect families from rising costs, safeguard public services and keep debt under control for the long term.

Our economy is starting to turn a corner. We must stick to our path, so that we can build a fairer, stronger and more prosperous Britain – with an economy that delivers for working people.

That is my promise. And it is one that I’m determined to deliver on.

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Sir Keir Starmer is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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