‘No easy answers’ to cost-of-living crisis, admits Johnson

Boris Johnson has said there are “no easy answers” to resolving the cost-of-living crisis as households face soaring energy bills and prices rising at their fastest rate for a generation.

The squeeze on living standards was one of the main issues discussed around the Cabinet table on Tuesday.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that inflation, which is expected to hit a 40-year high later this year, will lead to the biggest fall in living standards in any single year since records began in the mid-1950s.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson opened the Cabinet meeting by setting out the measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help households, including raising the national insurance threshold to help offset the impact of April’s tax hike.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “He said there are no easy answers but the £22 billion being provided by Government would support those most in need.”

Downing Street acknowledged there is no way to “fully mitigate” the impact of rising inflation without either major tax hikes or cuts to spending.

“There are global pressures that relate to coming out of a pandemic and war in Europe,” the spokesman said.

“Certainly the Government is providing large levels of support where it is needed most – a £22 billion package for this year.

“We absolutely will not just leave people to have to deal with it, we will provide targeted support where it is needed most.

“The point he and the Chancellor made is that in the face of these global inflationary pressures no government can seek to fully mitigate that without either significantly raising tax or defunding other areas.”