The cost-of-living crisis was all politicians could talk about a few years ago, around the time it reached a 41-year high of 11 per cent<\/a> in October 2022. This was an era when even the libertarian Liz Truss-led government imposed price controls. Now, they\u2019ve moved onto more exciting things, like AI, Donald Trump and deporting foreigners. You never hear them face the noble journalistic enquiry into the price of a pint of milk anymore. It\u2019s as if Westminster, and its attendant media class, has grown bored of the literal bread and butter.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why we don\u2019t just pick one subject and stick to it, and for me that has to be the cost-of-living,\u201d said one Labour MP, confused by his government\u2019s other preoccupations. \u201cThat\u2019s what I hear from my constituents, and lots of them aren\u2019t even from the poorest places. Struggling to afford a nice life is now such a common experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The reality is that the prices of life\u2019s essentials, such as food, heating and rent, have all been rising faster than wages and benefits. The flighty Westminster bubble may have an attention span frazzled by multiple news cycles a day courtesy of X, but the Tesco CEO Ken Murphy has revealed<\/a> that consumers aren\u2019t quite so quick to move on. He told reporters this week that shopping habits formed when inflation soared in 2022 \u2013 such as buying dine-in ready meals instead of eating out \u2013 have stuck. The subject line of one of Mumsnet\u2019s most-trending recent threads<\/a> was: \u201cAm I just stuck in the past or are price increases recently out of control?\u201d (The latter, ruled the matriarchal hivemind.)<\/p>\n \u201cLast winter, I couldn\u2019t afford to use the heating, it was just hot water that I used gas for,\u201d said Brian, 57, a single dad on Universal Credit in Kingston-upon-Thames whose diabetes and obsessive compulsive disorder meant stopping work. \u201cWith gas going up, that means this year I\u2019m going to have to try and use less hot water as well, just in order to cover the costs. I\u2019m dreading it.\u201d<\/p>\n He has also noticed cleaning and sanitary products are becoming more expensive, and has had to cut back on fresh food lately. \u201cFood prices are creeping up, especially fruit and vegetables. In my local supermarket now you pay 50, 60 pence just for one apple. It\u2019s ridiculous. I can\u2019t afford to eat healthily,\u201d he said when we spoke over the phone.<\/p>\n Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only \u00a38.99 per month<\/p>\n Politicians have \u201ccompletely pushed the cost-of-living to one side,\u201d in his view. \u201cThey\u2019re all arguing about this immigration thing \u2013 I think they\u2019re ignoring prices and bills and hoping we\u2019ll forget about them and find something else to complain about\u2026 The government definitely needs to bring the cost-of-living back into the spotlight and do something about it longer-term, because it\u2019s certainly not over.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/dl6pgk4f88hky.cloudfront.net\/2021\/09\/TNS_master_logo.svg\"){kind=logo}
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