“Britain is Black Mirror now.”
Please note: Here’s how to access financial resources and support amid the cost of living crisis.
With rising inflation and soaring energy bills, the United Kingdom is facing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. According to a YouGov poll conducted in Aug. 2022, one in four Britons have already been forced to cut back on key essentials to manage spending amid the crisis, while three quarters of the British public believe the government is not doing enough to help those who are struggling. In the past year, senior Conservative MPs have been taking to the airwaves to offer some of their money-saving solutions — many of which have not gone down well.
As per the Mirror, Tory minister George Eustice faced a wave of backlash in May 2022 following an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, in which he suggested households should purchase “value brands rather than own-branded products” during their weekly grocery shop.
On Sept. 1, the now former-Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that Britons could save £10 in electricity bills over the next 12 months by purchasing a £20 kettle. “If you have an old kettle which takes ages to boil, it may cost you £20 to replace it — but if you get a new one, you’ll save £10 a year every year on your electricity bill,” Johnson said.
More recently, the former-Conservative MP Edwina Currie appeared on Good Morning Britain on Sept. 5 to share her money-saving expertise. Sitting in front of a Boris Johnson cardboard cutout, she advised viewers to place tin foil behind radiators to heat up their homes “It really works, it makes the whole room nice and warm and it means you can turn down your thermostat without it causing discomfort,” Currie claimed, prompting guest host Martin Lewis to place his head in his hands.
Naturally, social media has had a lot to say about the UK’s response to the cost of living crisis in recent months, with some likening the ongoing situation to an episode of Black Mirror.
Find some of the best memes and tweets reacting to the cost of living crisis, below.