Soap, shampoo and toothpaste considered ‘luxury items’ amid soaring poverty in UK, Gordon Brown says
Children in the UK are suffering “the highest levels of poverty in living memory” – with basic toiletries including shampoo, soap and toothpaste now considered “luxury items”, Gordon Brown has said.
Speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, the former prime minister said he was “shocked and ashamed” at the current levels of poverty in Britain, which he said had not been seen for “many, many years”.
Mr Brown raised the plight of what he called “austerity’s children” – those who were born in the last 15 years “who are growing up poor, who probably have never known what it is to be anything other than poor”.
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There are currently 4.3 million children who are officially in poverty after housing costs – translating to 30% of all children in the UK, according to statistics published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in March.
The figure is an increase of 100,000 on the previous year.
Mr Brown, the most recent Labour prime minister and a former chancellor, told the Politics Hub the cost of living crisis has exacerbated the already-difficult situation for many.
Gordon Brown says people in the UK are struggling to afford basic toiletries like soap and shampoo. Pic: iStock
“We’re running a multi-bank which is a food bank, clothes bank, furnishings bank, toiletries bank, baby bank, all rolled into one,” he said.
“Last winter, people were desperate for bedding just to keep warm. They’d stop heating their homes and they were simply trying to heat themselves.
“As we move into these summer months – toiletries people cannot afford and consider soap and shampoo and toothpaste as a luxury item.
“And that is why the biggest hospital admissions for children under 10 – between five and nine – is for dental decay. And that’s three-and-a-half times higher in the poorer communities than the richer communities. So we are seeing austerity’s children.”
The former prime minister urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to take action in the autumn statement he is expected to deliver later in the year, while his advice for Sir Keir Starmer – who is on course to be the next Labour prime minister – was that he should “stick to his principles”.
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Sir Keir has angered some in his party by so far refusing to abolish the two child benefit cap, which the Labour leader has said he cannot commit to due to the “tough decisions” his party will face if propelled into power.
Mr Brown once again repeated his calls for a “root and branch” review of Universal Credit, which he said had “gone wrong” – including the two-child benefit cap that was introduced by the Conservative government in 2017 and prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children.
He indicated to Ridge that he believed the Labour leader should drop the cap, saying: “I think they should do a review, a root and branch review of Universal Credit.
“And you’ve got to look at every aspect of Universal Credit which has gone wrong. And it’s not, of course, just the two child rule that is causing problems – it’s the caps that have been placed on, for example, housing benefits.”
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Appealing to Sir Keir as he prepares for the possibility of reaching Downing Street, Mr Brown said the Labour leader should “never lose sight of why you’re there in the first place”.
“If you do lose sight of that, then you will fail. If you don’t lose sight of it and commit to your principles in implementing them, then I think you’ll succeed, and I’m sure he will,” he said.
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The former chancellor also urged Mr Hunt to continue the £500m household support fund that is due to expire at the end of September, and called for a children’s fund to be created alongside foundations, charities, businesses and governments at both local and national levels.
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Angela Rayner promises flagship workers’ law next month as she pledges ‘things can get better’
Angela Rayner has promised to bring Labour’s flagship workers’ rights bill to parliament next month as she told her party’s conference: “Things can get better if we make the right choices.”
The government has faced criticism in recent weeks over its pessimistic messaging around the economy, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warning October’s Budget would be “painful” in order to deal with the £22bn “black hole” he claims was left by the Conservatives.
But while his deputy said the party “can’t wish our problems away”, she said “hope won” when Labour achieved its landslide at the last election, adding: “Change has begun.”
Politics live: Rayner speaks at Labour conference
Speaking on the conference floor on the first full day of Labour’s annual gathering, Ms Rayner said: “Let me be blunt. We can’t wish our problems away. We have to face them. That’s the difference between opposition and government.
“But… things can get better if we make the right choices. Sustained economic growth is the only way to improve the lives of working people, and we’re fixing the foundations to put Britain back on the path to growth. No more talking, but doing.”
The deputy prime minister reiterated her party’s plans to improve renters’ rights, including ending no-fault evictions “for good”, as well as promising a “devolution revolution” in the north of England, and the “biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation”.
But some of the biggest cheers from delegates came over her long-trailed plan to increase workers’ rights across the country, with her promising to bring the Employment Rights Bill to the Commons in October.
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Concerns have been raised over the legislation by some in the business community, with an Institute of Directors’ survey earlier this month citing the bill as a reason for pessimism among firms who fear the impact on their operations.
But the government has sought to play down any divide, and held several roundtables with company leaders in recent weeks to allay their fears.
Championing the bill, Ms Rayner said: “They said we couldn’t do it. Some tried to stop it in its tracks. But after years of opposition, we are on the verge of historic legislation to make work more secure, make it more family friendly, go further and faster to close the gender pay gap, ensure rights are enforced and trade unions are strengthened.
“That means repealing the Tories’ anti-worker laws and new rights for union reps too. A genuine living wage and sick pay for the lowest earners, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts and unpaid internships, ending fire and rehire. And we will bring in basic rights from day one on the job.
“This is our plan to make work pay, and it’s coming to a workplace near you.”
Concluding her speech, the deputy prime minister said: “On 4 July, the people entrusted us with the task of change and hope won. Now is our moment, not just to say, but to do.
“Labour governments of the past took on this same challenge at a time when Britain desperately needed change. They delivered a better Britain when the odds were stacked against them.
“And that is exactly what this Labour government must deliver once again. So conference, let’s get on with it.”
Angela Rayner will set out measures to protect renters from fire safety defects, damp and mould in her speech at the Labour Party conference.
The deputy prime minister, who is also the housing secretary, will commit to “building homes fit for the future” when she opens the party’s first annual gathering since winning the general election.
The package will include bringing forward a Remediation Acceleration Plan this autumn to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings.
Deadly cladding remains on more than half of all residential blocks of flats identified as at risk since the Grenfell fire in 2017.
The issue has come back into the spotlight following the conclusion of the inquiry into the tragedy, which found that “systematic dishonesty” contributed to the blaze that killed 72 people.
The announcement of the acceleration plan was thin on detail, but the government said it would go “further and faster to fix unsafe cladding and make existing homes safe”.
Other measures Ms Rayner will announce on Sunday include consulting on a new “decent homes standard” for the social and private rented sectors, and a new law to make landlords respond to complaints about disrepair within legally binding timescales.
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These have already been announced as part of Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which builds on long-awaited legislation that was promised by the Tories but ultimately shelved ahead of the general election.
The law regarding repairs will be named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the social home his family rented in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Awaab Ishak
The Conservatives first proposed Awaab’s Law to cover the social rented sector, but Labour will extend it to cover the private sector in a move they say will help tenants in 746,000 homes with reported serious hazards secure faster repairs.
Commenting ahead of her speech, Ms Rayner, who has also pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years, said: “Just because Britain isn’t working at the moment, it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.
“We will deliver for working people and, in doing so, show that politics can change lives.
“This Labour government is taking a wave of bold action to not only build the housing our country needs and boost social and affordable housing, but to ensure all homes are decent, safe, and warm.”
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‘All MPs take gifts and donations’
The speech comes as a donations row threatens to overshadow the optimistic mood of the party’s first conference while in government for 15 years.
The prime minister has come under scrutiny over the past week for the more than £100,000 worth of gifts he has accepted, including tickets to football matches, concerts and luxury clothes.
Following days of press coverage on the issue, it emerged on Friday that Sir Keir and his most senior ministers – Ms Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves – will no longer accept donations to pay for clothes.
On Saturday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News that there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by her colleagues but “we don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes”.
She defended the prime minister’s actions as being within the rules, saying that the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things “so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind”.
She added: “We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.
“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”
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