Gordon Brown is right about the cost-of-living crisis. Here's why

Should England introduce new grammar schools? Should university degrees that don’t lead to a high salary be banned? Should English pupils be forced to study maths and English beyond GCSE level?

The more pressing question is: who cares?

Alongside this vacuous political posturing, we’ve also seen moments of real ideological cruelty that – while not exactly surprising – should worry us greatly. It’s becoming increasingly clear that neither Rishi Sunak nor the bookies’ favourite to win, Liz Truss, has any real plan to tackle the cost of living emergency. Instead, both have sought to shore up support among their wealthy middle-class pensioner base by pledging to be tough on welfare claimants.

READ MORE: Truss told Scotland to 'get lost' with Nicola Sturgeon swipe, says Gordon Brown

Truss insists there will be no “handouts” later this year to help households through the cost of living crisis. Rishi Sunak says he will reduce inflation by “getting much tougher on welfare”. Both pretend to be ignorant of the fact many people who receive some form of social security benefit are in work.

Against a backdrop of more than a decade of crippling cuts to benefits and punitive welfare policies, the Conservatives have ensured that, going in to this cost of living crisis, millions of households have no safety net.

There is no cost-saving measure left available to these families. There is no rainy-day fund, no nest egg squirrelled away for times such as these. For years, millions of people have been living month-to-month, just about managing to get by.

As energy prices soar and the cost of food increases, what do the leadership contenders expect them to do now?

Both talk of the need for fiscal responsibility with the country’s finances. Both say that – even in an emergency – it would be irresponsible to borrow money to pass on to those most at risk.

In doing so, they are consigning millions to poverty, hardship and increased personal debt.

Make no mistake – this is an emergency. In terms of the short and long-term impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of people across the UK, it’s up there with coronavirus and should be treated with the same sense of urgency.

Last week, the Bank of England warned we are headed for recession with inflation set to rocket to 13% this year. Forecasters warn it could be the longest period of recession since the 2008 financial crisis. Living standards are going backwards to the greatest degree we have seen since the 1950s. Energy bills account for about half of the increase in living costs. Winter is going to be an unimaginable horror for millions of families across the UK.

For once, I am fully on board with Gordon Brown’s latest intervention. He has said that both candidates should agree on an emergency budget to tackle the spiralling cost of living.

In a piece for The Observer, Mr Brown wrote: "The reality is grim and undeniable: a financial timebomb will explode for families in October as a second round of enegry price rises in six months sends shock waves through every household and pushes millions over the edge.

"Boris Johnson, Sunak and Truss must this week agree an emergency budget. If they do not, Parliament should be recalled to force them to do so."

His tone of urgency is one that has been shamefully absent among UK politicians in recent months. There is an avalanche heading our way and our political class sits on picnic blankets discussing what it might mean for next year’s ski season.

This isn’t a crisis that can be left to charitable and community-based initiatives to fix.

They are already buckling under the strain of demand. Most rely on the kindness of ordinary people to donate food, money and provisions that can be passed on to those in need. Many of those who have donated in the past will now be in such dire financial straits themselves that they will no longer be able to do so.

Child poverty is through the roof. Remember those key workers who got us through the pandemic? The workers that put their own health on the line to keep the country moving? The ones that we stood and clapped for, to show our appreciation?

Well, according to a recent Trades Union Congress study, one in five key worker households now has children living in poverty. The figure has increased by 65,000 in the last two years and it now totals nearly one million.

The north-east of England has the highest rates of key worker child poverty at 41%, while Scotland (8.3%) and Wales (8.9%) have the lowest.

Maybe the next leadership hustings should be in front of an audience of those children.

I’d like to see Truss and Sunak defend their callous inaction to a bunch of kids who can’t understand why the UK Government’s definition of fiscal responsibility means they will be cold and hungry this winter.