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Londra Gazete, 10 March 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 7

Warning UK faces biggest income

squeeze in nearly 50 years

WAR in Ukraine will push up es but also the degree of uncertainty his Spring Statement. Torsten Bell,
energy prices and see UK families about their levels and duration," the chief executive of the Resolution
squeezed even further, a think tank Foundation's report said. Foundation, said: "While the eco-
has warned. "The UK's post-Covid economic nomic fallout from the war will feel
The Resolution Foundation fore- recovery is well under way, but a trivial compared to the suffering ex-
casts that a typical household's in- deep living standards downturn is perienced by millions of Ukrainians,
come will fall by about £1,000 this just getting going," it added, also it will still have a significant impact
year once the effect of inflation is warning that wages are not forecast in Britain."
accounted for. That would be the to grow particularly fast either. He suggested that surging gas and
Price of first class stamps biggest real-terms fall in incomes The think tank called on Chancel- oil prices would worsen the "cost
since the mid-1970s, it added. A lor Rishi Sunak to announce fresh of living crisis", causing a "painful
to rise to 95p government spokesperson said it support for struggling families at squeeze on family incomes".
recognised the pressures house-
holds are facing.
THE price of a first class stamp tal each year, said Nick Landon, Many families were already ex-
will rise by 10p to 95p as Royal chief commercial officer at Royal pecting their monthly spend to go
Mail seeks to cover higher delivery Mail, but the number of addresses up when the energy price cap jumps
costs while the number of letters they have to deliver to has grown in April, and National Insurance
being sent falls. by around 3.5 million since 2004, contributions rise. But in a new
Second class stamps will also in- when letter volumes were at about report, the Resolution Foundation
crease by 2p to 68p, with the new 20 billion a year on average. said the Ukraine conflict would
prices coming into effect on 4 April. "We need to carefully balance push up living costs even further as
Royal Mail said it was having to our pricing against declining letter the prices of fuel and other goods
deliver to a growing number of ad- volumes and increasing costs of surged.
dresses, which was adding to costs. delivering to a growing number of It expects inflation, which meas-
Letter volumes have fallen by addresses six days a week," he said. ures how the cost of living changes
more than 60% since their peak in "As customer needs change and over time, to peak in April at 8.3%.
2004-05 and by about 20% since we see a greater shift from letters That is much higher the Bank of
the pandemic began. to parcels, it is vital that the univer- England's forecast of 7.25% back in
Postmen and women deliver sal service adapts to stay relevant February. "The crisis in Ukraine has
about seven billion letters in to- and sustainable." increased both the scale of price ris-