Salisbury MP John Glen has said that the government is "working on" more measures to help ease the cost of living crisis.

Today, we reported that the city is beginning to feel the pinch of rising costs, as the price of food, fuel, and bills continues to increase.

Inflation has hit a 40-year high, the cost of diesel has hit a new record, and the Bank of England has warned MPs of “apocalyptic” food prices.

READ MORE: Residents ‘feel the pinch' as cost of living continues to rise

John Glen, who is also the economic secretary to the Treasury, says that the government has already put forwards a "three-part support package" and is to provide economic  support to famility to help with the cost of living.

However, he says these are "just the first steps".

He said: “Since Ofgem’s confirmation of the energy price cap rise, the government has put forward a three-part support package worth £9.1 billion and is providing additional support to families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help with cost of living pressures.

“However, it has always been made clear that these measures were just the first steps towards easing the burden of global inflation.

“We want to make energy companies invest their excess profits back into the country, creating growth and bolstering our energy security, which will have greater and longer lasting benefits for the economy and exert downward pressure on prices.

“I would echo the Chancellor’s latest assurances that we are urgently working on further interventions and that no option is off the table.”

The Chancellor seemed to suggest that more needs to be done - Rishi Sunak said in a speech yesterday (Wednesday, May 18) that "we have a collective responsibility to help the most vulnerable in our society".

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has been debating the idea of using a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, which have benefitted from high prices, to fund measures to help.

According to a senior member of government, ministers are "intrinsically opposed" to it, but the tax has not been ruled out.

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