King Charles underscores UK’s cost of living crisis during Christmas message
King Charles has highlighted the cost of living crisis and the “great anxiety and hardship” of many struggling to “pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm” in his first Christmas broadcast.
In the message, with the nation in the grip of economic woes and against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the king dedicated a major part of his broadcast to those helping to ease the plight of others.
Footage of food banks and meals being distributed to the needy featured prominently as he praised “the wonderfully kind people” who had donated food or their time.
Delivered from the quire of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where the late Queen Elizabeth II had also broadcast her Christmas message in 1999, the monarch paid tribute to his mother, and recognised others who had lost loved ones.
“And at this time of great anxiety and hardship – be it for those around the world facing conflict, famine or natural disaster, or for those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm – we see it in the humanity of people throughout our nations and the Commonwealth who so readily respond to the plight of others.
The UK faces a fresh wave of strike action in the new year, as nurses, ambulance staff and rail workers prepare to walk out over pay.
The PCS union, which represents striking civil servants including Border Force staff, on Friday warned industrial action would be ramped up even further if the government continued to refuse to negotiate over pay.
Britons are braced for travel disruption over the festive period, with the RMT rail union organising a strike on Christmas Eve, meaning UK roads are likely to be far busier than usual.
Rishi Sunak is contending with a series of strikes across UK’s public and private sectors as workers respond to the cost of living crisis by demanding higher pay.
The prime minister, who has insisted public sector pay restraint is necessary to curb high inflation, said on Friday he was “sad and disappointed” at the level of disruption being caused by industrial action.
002
