A petition backing Gordon Brown’s calls for an emergency budget and uplift universal credit has reached 70,000 signatures and counting.
The former prime minister has teamed up with the Big Issue, poverty charities, Metro mayors, and faith groups to form an Anti-Poverty Coalition. The campaign is calling for immediate action from the current and next Tory leader as energy bills look set to hit almost £3,600 this October.
Writing in the Big Issue earlier this week, Brown predicted a rise in homelessness as the cost of living crisis deepens.
“Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunk and Liz Truss may not agree on much,” he wrote. “But this week the PM and the candidates that want to be PM must show prime ministerial mettle and return from holiday, park their hustings and come together to prepare an emergency and immediate fourth budget of the year to fill the gaps left by the first three.”
Brown has said only through an emergency budget could the government stop “millions of people going hungry and falling into poverty”.
“The government raised universal credit during the pandemic – providing a lifeline to millions – and with enough pressure, they could do it again,” the petition reads.