英世帯の半数、物価高騰で「食事抜き」　消費者団体

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英消費者団体は１９日、物価高騰を受け、国内世帯の半数が食事回数を減らさざるを得なくなっていると警鐘を鳴らした。政府が光熱費抑制策の縮小を打ち出したことから、多数の国民が貧困状態に陥る恐れがあるとも予想している。（資料写真）
　苦境に立たされている保守党のリズ・トラス首相は、山積する経済問題に直面。そうした中、９月の消費者物価指数（ＣＰＩ）上昇率は食品価格の高騰を受け、前年同月比で再び１０％を上回った。
　消費者団体「Ｗｈｉｃｈ？」が３０００人を対象に実施した調査によると、国内世帯の半数が食事回数を減らしている。同じく半数が健康的な食事をするのが以前より難しくなったと回答、８０％近くが経済的に苦しいと答えた。
　同団体で食糧政策を担当しているスー・デービス氏は、「生活費危機の直撃で数百万人が食事を抜くか、健康的な食事を取れない事態となっている恐れがある」と指摘した。
　同団体はまた、政府が光熱費抑制策の縮小を決定したため、数百万人が十分な暖房を確保できなくなるだろうとの見方を示した。
　ジェレミー・ハント財務相は１７日、市場に混乱をもたらしていた減税計画を「ほぼすべて」撤回すると発表。目玉政策である光熱費抑制策の終了時期も２０２４年末から来年４月に前倒しするとした。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/20-15:26）

Millions of Britons are skipping meals in current the cost-of-living crisis, a consumer group warned Thursday, having already forecast that many risk fuel poverty after the UK curbed its energy price freeze.
The news came after data showed UK inflation jumped back above 10 percent in September on rampant food prices, as economic troubles pile up for beleaguered Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Half of UK households are cutting back on the number of meals, consumer group Which? said citing a survey of 3,000 people.
A similar proportion are finding it harder to eat healthily compared with before the crisis, while almost 80 percent are finding it difficult financially.
The devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis is, worryingly, leading to millions of people skipping meals or struggling to put healthy meals on the table, said Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?.
Separately, the consumer group stated Wednesday that the UK government's decision this week to curb its energy price freeze would leave millions unable to adequately heat their homes.
In a series of humiliating budget U-turns, new finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced Monday that he would pull the plug on the flagship energy price freeze in April instead of late 2024.
The government's decision to end universal energy support in April risks throwing millions of households across the country -- not just the most financially vulnerable -- into fuel poverty, warned Rocio Concha, head of policy and advocacy at Which?.
The government must clarify how they will support those struggling to make ends meet beyond the spring and ensure that as energy prices remain incredibly high, consumers are not left out in the cold.
The price freeze was aimed at protecting consumers from sky-high domestic fuel costs, which have rocketed on key energy producer Russia's war on Ukraine.
Britain has meanwhile been blighted by strikes this year, as workers protest over wages that has failed to keep pace with runaway inflation.
The retail prices index -- an inflation measure which includes mortgage interest payments and is used by trade unions and employers when negotiating wage increases ? leapt to 12.6 percent in September from 12.3 percent in August, data showed Wednesday.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of umbrella grouping the Trades Union Congress (TUC), demanded this week that Truss step down.
I have a message for Liz Truss: Working people are proud of the jobs we do. We work hard. We work the longest hours in Europe, she told the TUC's annual gathering in the English seaside resort of Brighton.
Yet thanks to your party's 12 years in government, millions are struggling to make ends meet.