It’s autumn and the green shoots of George Osborne’s economic recovery look more like a leaf hanging by a thread in the face of an economic storm.
The fact that the storm is of the government’s own making doesn’t seem to shake their belief as they stick doggedly to their austerity agenda.
I suspect the news that GDP has grown by 0.8% between July and September is unlikely to send a cheer through many households today.
Meanwhile, the complacency of this government is breathtaking. Seeing Osborne tweet that the “country is on the path to prosperity” I want to say – get out more.
Look around – just getting by, day to day, is the harsh reality for millions of working people and the 2.5m unemployed desperate to find a job.
It is a bitter irony that a government that preaches long and hard about the dangers of public sector debt and the need to rein in public spending should see personal debt fuelling the economic recovery.
The main reasons that the economy looks as if it is showing signs of life are because people are borrowing more to make ends meet, and because of the chancellor’s unsustainable housing bubble.
Most working people will not feel that the economy is in recovery. People’s pay is worth considerably less than when the coalition embarked upon their damaging austerity drive.
And the rise in basics such as rent, fuel and food, continues to run way ahead of wage increases.
In fact, prices have gone up faster than wages in 39 of the 40 months since the general election.
This will come as no surprise to anyone unlucky enough to have had a gas or electricity bill drop thorough their letter box this week. And the bad news is that, one after another, the big six energy companies are following suit and putting up prices – some by double figures.
What world does David Cameron live in where he can advise people to keep rooms at a minimum of 21˚C (70˚F), when fuel poverty is rising and many face the stark choice of heating or eating?
Of course the government is right to be concerned that tens of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people may freeze to death this winter, but actions speak louder than words.
And the Trussel Trust estimates that three times more people are being forced to turn to food banks for support than at this time last year.
We are the seventh richest nation on this planet and yet thousands of parents are relying on food banks to feed themselves and their children.
So I say to George Osborne, there is another way. End the squeeze on public sector pay, raise the minimum wage to a living wage and let’s get people spending their wages in the high street and not pay day loans.
Put in a proper plan for jobs, investment and affordable housing, and put the economy on a sound footing for the future.