MORE than half of UK voters are worried about paying for everyday essentials such as food, fuel and bills amid the “Westminster-made” cost of living crisis, a new survey has revealed.
More than four in five voters (85%) told the BMG survey that the cost of living crisis was the biggest issue facing the UK at the moment.
The SNP have labelled the cost of living crisis “Westminster-made”, arguing that independence is the only way to guarantee economic prosperity for Scotland.
With 57% of households reporting struggling to pay for essentials, 67% of UK voters supported introducing price controls for supermarkets as a measure to tackle inflation.
The latest inflation figures show prices have risen by 7.9% in June – the lowest increase since March 2022 – with food prices increasing by 17.4%.
A total of 59% of UK voters believe that Rishi Sunak’s government has handled inflation “poorly”, with 65% citing that government spending had contributed to inflation “to at least some extent”.
Subsamples from the representative polling reveal that less than one in five (18%) of Scottish voters said they trust the Conservatives most out of all major political parties to handle the cost of living crisis, while almost one in four (24%) said they trusted the SNP.
Over a quarter of Scots – 27% – said they did not trust any political party to handle the crisis.
It comes after The National exclusively revealed that 63.8% of Scottish adults anticipate the next five years of life in the UK to be worse than the five years up to now, with only one in 10 believing life will improve.
Stewart Hosie MP, the SNP’s economy spokesperson, said: “The figures revealed in this recent survey highlight the harsh impact of this Westminster-made crisis.”
He added that independence “would rid Scotland of the chaos of Westminster and allow us to build a fairer economy for all".
The UK Government has pointed towards its cost of living support packages – which it says are worth on average £3300 per household.
A HM treasury spokesperson told The National: “We know that rising prices are worrying for households across the country, which is why halving inflation this year and getting back to the 2% target is our priority.”
Out of the 1500 adults surveyed by BMG consulting between June 27 to June 29, Scottish voters represented 9%.
