Britons are taking steps to cut bills as the government dithers in face of the cost of living crisis

A financial tsunami is engulfing low-income Britain but ministers are delaying to give meaningful help, says James Moore

Britain’s fastest growing grocer: German discounters are winning as Britons seek out cheaper groceries (Getty Images)

Casting around for something resembling a policy to address the cost of living crisis, Boris Johnson’s government has decided to try and find “non-fiscal” means of easing the pain for households.

Turning to my crystal ball, I see an expensive and patronising ad campaign.

Did you know you can claim X and Y and Z? Go to the government’s website where you’ll find a complicated and confusing form to fill in, with various threatening looking warnings that are designed to deter fraudsters but are more likely to put off the rest of us for fear we’ll get something wrong.

It makes sense to urge people to claim what they can. But if you want improve your finances you’d be better off looking to a newspaper personal finance section or a money-saving website for help. They offer sensible advice and outline practical steps people can take to cut bills. They’ve been doing this for ages. If Boris Johnson and/or his millionaire cabinet chums ever cared to look, they might have noticed that. But for them, this crisis is an intellectual exercise rather than something they’re going to experience at any point in their lives.

The recent story about the bill faced by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, for heating his home swimming pool – £13,000 or more than six times the average annual energy bill – says it all. Is it really any wonder that ministers are struggling for ideas?

One good idea has so far been floated: a potential crackdown on such as mobile phone providers imposing punitive price rises. But that would require ministers to show some willingness to lock horns with corporate Britain, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.

When it comes to the fiscal picture, the latest figures showed Sunak borrowed £18.1bn in March on our behalf, which was lower than expected. The figure for the year – £151.8bn – was, however, £20bn ahead of what the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast.

Economists differ on whether the chancellor has any wiggle room to offer some real assistance – that would mean financial help assistances – and on how much he might be able to spend. However, the government seems set on letting hard-up Britons swing in the wind until we’re within sight of the next general election.

There is evidence to suggest that households have worked that out for themselves and are taking their own steps to reduce bills. Kantar put grocery price inflation at 5.9 per cent this month, the highest for more than a decade. The average household is thus facing a potential price increase of £271.

Shoppers have responded by switching to Aldi and Lidl, the German discount duo, which were respectively the fastest and the second fastest growing grocers year on year.

The biggest impact could be seen in the declining market shares Kantar calculated for Asda and Morrisons (its numbers are based on a 40,000 strong panel of shoppers). This may help to explain the pair’s recent price cutting announcements.

But, as I’ve written in this column before, the fact remains that an increasing number of people are going to find they’ve already done everything they possibly can to reduce their personal rate of inflation. They have nowhere to go.

There is a financial tsunami engulfing low- and middle-income Britain and we are only just at the start of it. Things could get very nasty over the next 12 to 18 months.