‘Beyond farcical’: Emily Thornberry says lack of ‘grown up’ govt delayed strike talks as inflation remains high

18 January 2023, 11:18

Emily Thornberry: It's 'good news that inflation is down' but living standards are 'undermined'

The Shadow Attorney General said inflation is "still the third highest that it's been for 40 years", even though it is "good news" that it's "going down".

The Shadow Attorney General has said we cannot celebrate the dip in inflation just yet, as it is still high.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC, Emily Thornberry said: "It’s good news that inflation is going down but it's still the third highest that it's been for 40 years. So, you know, let's not put the bunting out yet Nick."

READ MORE: UK inflation falls for second month in a row but food prices are still on the rise

The Labour MP added: "It's 10.5 per cent inflation year on year - very uncomfortable and obviously it means that many people's living standards are being undermined and their wages are being cut effectively.

"It's at a time when they’re spending vast amounts of their income on heating and food as those prices go up. It’s very difficult for people to make ends meet."

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Nick asked: "What do you see as the solution to what appears to be a growing sense of industrial unrest across so many sectors Emily?"

"It's not as though these problems have just suddenly jumped out of a cupboard at them", replied the Member for Islington South. "We’ve known these problems have been arising, we know that the unions have been putting in pay claims, and they should have been in discussions since the summer.

"If they were a proper government that governed in a gown up way, they would have been in negotiations for a long time and not been in denial for such a along time, and then at the very last minute like some sort of new year's resolution, 'oh well, let's see if we can get all the unions in and fix it in one hours worth of negotiations.'

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"It’s beyond farcical", she said.

"For many of the unions it isn’t just about pay, its about working conditions", Labour's Shadow Attorney General added. "There need to be proper negotiations and that simply hasn’t happened."

She also said that the Conservatives "have yet" to provide a clear answer to confirm that they won't go ahead with the 12p increase in fuel duty, due to be effective from March.