Shazia Mirza

Shazia Mirza: Levelling up, trickling down - run me over sideways!

Written by: Shazia Mirza
Published: Saturday 8th October 2022

When I was growing up in Birmingham in the 80s and 90s you were either rich or poor. You either bought your clothes from Marks & Spencer or the local jumble sale; either went on holiday to Marbella or Skegness; and for dinner had either quiche or spaghetti on toast. If you were poor, there was always a crisis.

You always had to choose between heating and eating, a new school uniform or a second hand one from Margaret's daughter next door who is three sizes bigger than you are. You did things to survive. Like walking instead of getting the bus, watching Coronation Street with your coat on instead of putting the heating on, and stealing clothes off your neighbour's washing line.

If you were working class under Thatcher, you did your best to stay alive. And here we go again.

I went to a friend's house the other day. He's wealthy - owns two houses, thinks nothing of leaving his TV and computer on standby all night, and when he buys avocados never looks at the price. He normally drinks Armand de Brignac champagne: I looked online and it's £265. Last week I found him drinking Heidseick Dry Monopole (£29.00). I asked him if he was trying something new. "No," he said. "Cost of living crisis."

All of a sudden there's a cost of living crisis, because people who are traditionally not classed as "poor" are having to downgrade, demote, get a second job - or in some cases just a job. Soon there will be no middle class left, it'll just be very rich or poor. NHS staff are leaving for better-paid jobs in shops and hospitality because of the cost of living crisis, according to NHS providers. Where is the clapping and banging of Le Creuset saucepans now?

Some nurses are skipping meals to feed and clothe their children, and many frontline find it difficult to make the journey to work because of rising costs.

A comedian told me he had to get on the Megabus to Birmingham the other day for a gig because it only cost him £4.45 as opposed to £40 in petrol, which meant if he drove it wouldn't be worth doing the gig. But he wanted to work so had to rough it, and he told me it was a really depressing journey. Luckily the gig went well, and he made a profit. Getting on the Megabus is like giving birth: once you've done the gig and made a hundred people laugh you forget about the pain and horror you went through to get there.

People on low incomes in every sector are more adversely affected as they spend a larger proportion of their income on food and energy. The effects of rising energy, housing and transport costs have a differential and significant impact on lower-income consumers, as do food and other consumer goods prices.

Most people don't know what these politicians are talking about. 'Levelling up', 'trickling down' - what next? Run me over sideways?

I'm no clearer on what the plan is, other than tax cuts for the rich and cuts in services and living standards for 95% of us. Next they'll be coming for your pensions. I'm sure the very rich are thinking, 'At last, I'm benefiting from the tax cuts, it's finally time people like me have something go our way'. The super wealthy can never have too much money. The poor always pay for the rich and I can feel the trickle down from Liz Truss's tax cuts already running down my spine.

Home repossessions and food banks are not a temporary, casual thing that can easily be reversed for people, but she's freezing their money for two years and doing nothing to help the poorest people.

I walked down Camden High Street yesterday and every other restaurant and café I passed had a sign in the window asking for staff. I hadn't seen that since the 80s. Foreign workers leaving due to Brexit, and additional taxes on households, are the cause, but at least those people who voted out have got their country back - which is what they always wanted. My neighbour who is Indian and came here in the 1970s voted out because he felt there were now too many immigrants here. He's really pissed off now because he can't get a cleaner and his local Indian restaurant has shut down because of a staff shortage. He definitely is superficially brown. Karma. The Indians invented it.

Soon we'll have NHS staff doing stand up comedy, comedians cooking sweet and sour chicken in a Chinese restaurant, and Liz Truss eating quiche in her M&S dress - because she and her people are the only ones who can definitely afford to.