“Workers’ wage demands are not fuelling inflation, they are following it, and responding to it in desperation as they see their living standards eroded - first by genuinely inflationary pressures and then by company profiteering.”
Barry intervened in the House of Commons in the debate on the Autumn Statement by highlighting how profit margins for the UK’s biggest listed companies are now 73 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
A survey of retailers earlier this year revealed that firms are actively using inflation to boost their profits by increasing prices more than the increase in their costs - an act of gouging which then creates further waves of inflation.
Barry called on the Labour front bench to do more to make the case that workers are not causing inflation.
“When companies themselves tell us they’re ripping us off, it’s time for politicians to listen and to act.”
Watch Barry’s speech 🔽