Challenging the Causes of the Cost of Living Crisis

That the Parliament notes the recently published research from Unite the Union analysing the FTSE 350, which shows that profit margins for the first half of 2022 were 89% higher compared to the same period in 2019; understands that FTSE 350 profits have spiked to higher levels than even 2021, when profits rose by 73%, according to Unite’s first profiteering report, published in July 2022; further understands that Unite’s latest report on profiteering across the economy is the first to show how companies like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda added to the pressures on people's finances, while they doubled their combined profits in 2021, compared with 2019, to £3.2 billion; understands, likewise, that big brand food manufacturers, such as Nestle and Unilever, have seen their corporate profits soar as, it believes, customers struggled more and more; believes that these findings are highly significant at a time when rising prices are putting many families into serious financial difficulty, increasing indebtedness, driving more people to need to rely on food banks, and, it considers, reducing living standards for people of virtually all incomes; further believes that these actions and what it sees as huge increases in profits must be challenged if people are to get a better deal and not be forced to pay the price for a crisis that they did not create and that, it considers, was not inevitable, and believes that it is only by taking on companies that it considers are trying to profiteer that the cost of living crisis can be brought to end.