The cost of living crisis has been happening for so long now, it can no longer really be classed as a “crisis”. Crisis implies urgency, emergency, a state that cannot go on without intervention. But when that is not forthcoming, crisis simply becomes the new normal; especially if politicians treat it as such.
You would be forgiven for thinking it didn’t exist at all if you followed Conservative party conference last week. The prime minister’s speech seemed to be addressed to another nation altogether, one in which our main issues are how people identify their gender, small boat crossings, and green diktats. Those struggling are reduced to the “hardest hit” and are used to justify whatever policy he is trying to block or promote, without ever acknowledging what they are going through.
