A gaggle of Labour MPs has urged Sir Keir Starmer to do extra to sort out the rising price of dwelling amid fears the occasion may lose the subsequent election to Reform.
The MPs are launching a brand new splinter group, the dwelling requirements coalition, to shift the main target to on a regular basis issues reminiscent of meals, vitality payments and housing.
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In a letter to the prime minister, the group’s members warned that one query can be on the thoughts of voters on the subsequent election: “Did this Labour government make me better off?”
“After 14 years of living in a no-growth economy and with some of the highest bills in Europe, our constituents are struggling to make ends meet,” they mentioned.
“More of them are turning away from democracy and towards populism as they can’t afford a decent life.”
The coalition is the newest splinter group to kind for the reason that occasion’s landslide election victory a 12 months in the past.
Different teams embrace the Labour progress group, which focuses on delivering financial progress, and MPs in Crimson Wall constituencies within the North who’re alive to the risk Reform poses of their seats.
A YouGov ballot final month discovered Reform was on observe to get probably the most seats if an election had been held this 12 months – with mixed help for the Conservatives and Labour collapsing to lower than half of the nationwide vote.
Whereas the MPs stress they’re supportive of the actions the federal government has taken to date, the forming of a brand new group might be interpreted as an indication of restlessness within the parliamentary occasion, particularly given the fallout of final week’s botched welfare vote.
Within the letter, first reported by The Guardian, the MPs write: “We are here to support your efforts to go further and faster on raising living standards. We come from every corner of our party.
“To boost dwelling requirements, we help authorities interventions that may assist to extend incomes and decrease prices.
“We welcome interventions that will raise incomes. We welcome investment in labour- intensive building, education, and healthcare jobs that will raise living standards through employment. We welcome the Employment Rights Bill that will get wages rising.”
They added: “We know that some will try to stop us raising living standards.
“They may attempt to block us from constructing the reasonably priced housing and windfarms we have to get payments down. They oppose the way in which now we have raised income from the very wealthiest to spend money on childcare and our NHS.
“We are glad you are keeping this government’s focus on raising living standards. We stand in support of you. It is the most important issue to our constituents and the country.”
