英國居民面對最嚴峻的問題 – the cost of living crisis 生活成本危機。今年初受能源價格影響，令零售價格的通賬率一路飈升。今個月的零售通賬率已超過9%，市民面對買不起食物，用不起暖氣的困境。想不到，竟然有城市宣告要進入『生活成本緊急狀態 the cost of living emergency』，而這個城市是位於英國東南海岸的Eastbourne。
生活成本緊急狀態
根據營運食物銀行的慈善機構的統計顯示，在過去一年，Eastbourne對食物銀行的需求較其他城市多出幾倍，現時Eastbourne Fooodbank是全英國最繁忙的食物銀行，每日需要分發給當地的人，遠比其他城市多很多。而事實，Eastbourne在近月出現很多針對以食物、酒品 和 手提電腦的偷竊/爆竊案，這足以證明城市的貧窮和需求的狀況。
Eastbourne 市政府向英格蘭政府提出緊急動議，並呼籲政府採取進一步措施支持陷入困境的家庭。緊急動議有以下幾點：
- 即時向石油和天然氣公司徵收『Windfall Tax暴利税』
- 即時恢復國家退休金的三重鎖定保障 Triple lock protection
- 即時減低至少2.5%的VAT增值稅
什麼是Windfall Tax 暴利税？
暴利稅是針對行業獲得不合理過高利潤所徵收的稅項。通過驗證測算企業各種資源上的成本、各種費用以及利潤空間，並保證留給企業足夠的收入用於可持續發展的開支後，計算出暴利階段，以調整和控制行業的高利潤。英國自1997年起，便取消Windfall Tax這項稅款，相信今次的能源價格爆賬會令Windfall Tax再次出現。
什麼是 Pensions triple lock？
英國政府自2010年以來，triple lock是政府向退休人士提出的核心承諾，承諾退休金將隨著以下三個指標中最高的一個而上升：
- 固定升幅 2.5%
- 平均收入增長（以每年的 5 月至 7 月來計算）
- 通貨膨脹（從每年 9 月份開始計算）
但今年3月起，這項國家退休金的三重鎖定保障被暫停，主要是受過去兩年的瘟疫影響，國家為支付抗疫服務、 furlough休假計劃的支出等，國家欠債累累，令英國進入經濟危機。因此未能守著承諾，今年內將暫停增加退休金。生活費增加但退休金沒有上升的情況下，令老人在零支援下只能在食物或暖氣之間二選一。
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