who s asking what s going on? the government offers this explanation. it s the legacy of covid and it s, of course, what putin is doing. but are ukraine and covid the full story? i think the uk is probably poorer than most people think. the system isn t producing like it should. that is the result - of choices we ve made. this is definitely not what normal looks like. this is what failure looks like. the government rejects talk of failure or decline, and it s true, britain is one of the richest countries in the world, but if that s the case, why do so many people feel so poor? cornwall is home to more than half a million people. it s where i grew up and where my parents still live. these days, cornwall relies on fishing, farming and, most of all, tourism. it s one of the most popular destinations in the country. it s also one of the poorest in the uk. cornish workers are among the uk s lowest paid. with rising food, housing, and energy prices, life has got harder in the last
In this country and instead what we saw was more tinkering around the edges, more temporary policies that might have, you know, some short term effect on growth, but we are still set to see the biggest drop in living standards for two consecutive years, so despite the budget and perhaps a more optimistic outlook, people will feel much poorer than they did before. that isn t to say this is a lost cause. all the economists panorama spoke to agree it should be possible to get living standards rising again. there is every reason to be optimistic. we have the best universities in the world. we have many pockets of excellence. we have a legitimate democratic system in place. it s as if you are a football team and you have all
Officials argue that such athletes have an unfair advantage due to a difference in strength and muscle mass. now on bbc news panorama. people are struggling. costs are going through the roof. and i m not sure there is any of stopping it. there are lots of people currently working just to pay the bills, not having any sort of life. we struggle just| so we can have a roof over our head. millions of britons have effectively had a pay cut. wages aren t keeping up with costs, public services are struggling too. it s tough right now, and i can t be the only one
To other developed countries. it s been low for years, and this, in the short term, is being exacerbated by brexit and none of that helps increase productivity or wages. across the uk, families are feeling the squeeze. polling shared exclusively with panorama suggests that one in four people are finding it difficult on their current income and nearly half are worried about their financial situation. nikki rogers works around 20 hours a week as a carer and gets £10.50 per hour, she also receives universal credit, various loans, and borrows from friends but it s not enough. she lives with her daughter leah and son archie. it s really sad that we struggle just so we can have a roof over our head.
For the night, or you can t have that because i can t afford it this week, that we couldn t put our heating on because we have only got £1 left in our metre. my mum never said none of that to me and ifind that i am saying that to my children and that s shocking. everything seems to be falling apart. none of this is going to let up soon. the polling shared with panorama suggest 44% of people think their standard of living is going to get worse in the next year. and the data suggests they re right. the government s independent watchdog says in the next two years we will see the largest two year fall in living standard since their record began in the 1950s. come on, let s go! in penzance, this group of dancers is meeting for their latest class. sennen is 17 and doing a levels. definitely feel a sense of unfairness.