New analysis by Labour has revealed that families in Crawley will collectively fork out an extra £17,043,000 on petrol, compared to just this time last year.

The figures come as oil and gas producers, including Shell and BP, took in billions in soaring profits, with BP hailing “more money than we know what to do with”. And this week working people in Crawley were hit with a tax hike in their pay packets this week after the Chancellor chose to raise national insurance. The Chancellor has raised taxes 15 times in total, costing families £1,060 this year.

Labour is calling on the government to bring forward an emergency budget to tackle the Tory cost of living crisis. This would prioritise five measures including with a one-off windfall tax on the soaring profits of oil and gas producers to help households through the crisis with up to £600 in support. Labour would also ramp up home insulation, scrap the unfair National Insurance hike, and provide support for struggling businesses.

Cllr Peter Lamb, Labour Leader of Crawley Borough Council, said:

“Even before the pandemic, the policies of this Government meant that over a third of local children were growing up in poverty. Now, as Crawley works to recover from suffering the harshest economic hit of any town in the country, residents are facing the biggest reduction in living standards in over half a century.”

“The Chancellor claimed this week that calls for Government action to support people through this crisis were ‘silly’. Everyone else calls it common sense.”