“I can’t even ask my children if I want a loaf,” Val Barlow says as she looks into the distance. “My son asks me if I need anything but I know he’s got family. He’s working and he’s seeing nowt of it. I’m struggling like everybody else but you’ve got to go on.”
Val isn’t the only one finding things tough at the moment. Her struggles come just as council tax bills are set to rise across Greater Manchester.
“It’s disgusting,” the 61-year-old told the Manchester Evening News. “[Bills] have already gone up before your benefits have gone up so you won’t see the difference.
