CCTV Journalist Observation | UK Inflation "Fever" Remains, People's Lives in Danger | Bank of England | Inflation | Reporter
The inflation rate in the UK continues to be high, and in order to curb inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates multiple times. However, this has led to many businesses experiencing excessive pressure and even going bankrupt. This result will ultimately suffer the common people.
CCTV reporter Chen Lincong: The hospital behind me is St. Thomas Hospital located in the center of London. At the entrance of the hospital, junior doctors are on strike.
Junior doctors: In the past 15 years, the salaries of junior doctors in the UK have decreased by 35%. Our demand is to restore salary income to the same level as before. Our lives are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
In the past 9 months, primary doctors in the UK have held 5 strikes, resulting in a total of 778000 hospital appointments being cancelled. And this is just a microcosm of the struggles caused by inflation among professionals in various industries in the UK.
According to data released by the UK government on July 25th, as of March 31st this year, the number of households living in temporary residences in England has reached a record high of about 105000, an increase of about 10% from the same period last year, and the highest since the statistics were released in 1998. According to local media reports, since 2022, high prices and rapidly rising rent in the UK have led to a significant increase in the number of homeless and those who can only live in temporary housing.
CCTV reporter Chen Lincong: This place is a relatively large rescue station in the center of London, specializing in providing food, clothing, and other daily necessities to homeless people. According to the latest statistics from the UK government, due to the continuous rise in prices and rent, many people cannot afford such high prices, resulting in many people being homeless. Statistics show that one in every 50 Londoners sleeps on the streets. In the evening, there are many people camping on both sides of this commercial street, and a family lives in a tent.
Inflation remains high, and crime and violence are also on the rise. On the 9th of this month, there was chaos on Oxford Street, a commercial street in the British capital London, and 9 people were arrested. Two of them were accused of attempting to rob, while others were suspected of assaulting police officers and attempting to steal. The report stated that someone had previously incited the robbery of a shop on Oxford Street on social media, and as a result, the London police have deployed additional police forces at relevant locations.
To curb inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates multiple times before, putting sustained pressure on the economy. On the 10th, Welco, a well-established British chain retailer founded in 1930, declared bankruptcy, and its 400 stores across the UK will temporarily be managed by PwC in search of relevant acquirers. If ultimately unable to be acquired, 12000 workers will face unemployment.
CCTV reporter Chen Lincong: The inflation rate in the UK reached an astonishing 9.4% in May this year, the highest level in 40 years. In order to curb inflation, on one hand, the British government has resorted to violent interest rate hikes, while on the other hand, inflation remains high and unabated. British Prime Minister Sunak has promised to achieve a halving of inflation by the end of this year, which is more like a rhetoric of a political game in the UK and a last resort to extending the Conservative Party's rule. The latest poll shows that the public opinion support of the ruling party in the UK is continuously declining, and it may be at a disadvantage in next year's UK general election. The National Economic and Social Research Institute, a British think-tank, predicts that under the triple impact of "Brexit", the subsequent impact of the epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the British economy will fall into the "low growth trap" in the next five years. The sound of Big Ben by the Thames River in London kept ringing, as if it was an alarm for the British government.
