Unite press release

 

For immediate release: Thursday 3 November 2022

Interest rate rise: Unite says Bank of England must tackle profiteering

The Bank of England and the Treasury want workers and communities to pay the price every time.

Commenting on The Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates to 3 per cent, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Britain is suffering from an epidemic of profiteering, in every sector of the economy. So it remains remarkable that, despite all the evidence, the Bank of England is refusing to acknowledge that profiteering must be tackled to deal with inflation.

“The Bank of England and the Treasury want workers and communities to pay the price every time. They attack wages, they line us up for another round of austerity and now they pile on more misery for those already with personal debt burdens. These are choices and they don’t have to make them. We have to ask again - who is benefiting from this broken economy?”

ENDS

Notes: A Survation poll for Unite of 6000 adults released today (3 November) revealed that more than half (54%) say they can’t or will have difficulty paying their household bills this year.

Almost a third (27%) have already gone into debt or increased the levels of their debt just to put food on the table. Shockingly, the new poll reveals 14% of adults are facing food poverty. This is a drastic rise from 8% in 2020 according to Government figures.

The Survation poll also revealed that an astonishing 70% have experienced a real terms pay cut. But according to Unite’s own research, profits in Britain’s top companies are up by 47 per cent.

Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315 or Joe Rollin on 07814 336 545

 

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