They get richer, you get poorer
>Workers should not ask for pay rises to help with rising energy bills to save the economy, the Bank of England has said.
Governor Andrew Bailey, who earned more than half a million pounds last year, said that while it would be “painful” for workers to accept that prices would rise faster than their wages, increasing pay could lead to inflation becoming entrenched.
Bailey’s comments come after regulator Ofgem on Thursday increased the energy price cap nearly £700 for the average household from April to £1,971, a move that will see over 5 million people spending at least 10 per cent of their salaries on energy costs.
This Spring will see the biggest squeeze on household finances in decades, as rising interest rates, the National Insurance hike, and a big increase to the energy price cap all come into force.
Calculations from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that a worker on £30,000 a year would be roughly £400 worse off in real terms year-on-year.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is offering all households a repayable loan of £200 to help soften the blow of rising energy bills in April and a one-off £150 council tax rebate for low-income households.
Labour said the Government’s support schemes will “be of little comfort to many”.
In the year from 1 March 2020, Bailey was paid £575,538 including pension. His six-figure salary is more than 18 times higher than the £31,285 median annual pay for full-time employees in the UK.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the Bank of England was actually calling for a national pay cut and added that any employer who can afford to increase wages, should.
“Enough is enough,” she said. “We will be demanding that employers who can pay, do pay. Let’s be clear, pay restraint is nothing more than a call for a national pay cut.”
“Why is it that every time there is a crisis, rich men ask ordinary people to pay for it?”
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