Expect something on Wednesday, some gesture in the spring statement to ease the gathering cost-of-living storm. But for whom? That’s the chancellor’s political and moral choice. But, before he chooses, I would like to bring him with me to sit in court to watch a day of housing evictions, warrants and repossessions.
Since the ban on evictions in England during Covid ended last summer, a wave of cases has surged through the justice system. Here Rishi Sunak would see stricken households losing their daily battle to stay afloat in a sea of bills and misfortunes. Many were knocked into debt by lost earnings in the pandemic, struggling against mounting bills. Many were “just about managing” with the £20 a week “uplift” to universal credit, before that was cruelly withdrawn.
