Scots fear cost of living crisis will get even worse in 2023 as money worries rise

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A new opinion poll has found Scots fear the cost of living crisis will get even worse this year. A clear majority are sceptical the situation will get better, with two thirds of people admitting to struggling with their energy bills.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is hoping inflation will fall this year but a range of other pressures look likely to heap misery onto cash-strapped Scots.

Mortgage bills will almost certainly rise, taxes are going up, and the blanket support to control gas and electricity prices will end soon.The new poll, carried out by Survation for advisory firm True North, canvassed Scots on the biggest financial crisis in decades.Seventy one per cent said they believed the cost of living crisis will get worse in 2023.Over two thirds, 64 per cent, admitted to struggling to pay their energy bills over the last six months.This ranged from 18 per cent who said ‘rarely’, 24% who said ‘sometimes’, and 9 per cent who said ‘all the time’.A similar proportion, 65 per cent, said they had struggled to pay other household bills over the same period.Nearly 90 per cent said they thought the UK should aim to meet its demand for oil and gas from domestic production.This finding may worry the SNP/Green Government, which has hardened its opposition to new drilling.Labour MSP Daniel Johnson said: “This poll shows what we have all known for months- tackling the cost of living crisis is the number one priority for Scots.“While anxieties over energy bills and mortgages continue to grow, the Tories and the SNP are more concerned with stoking division than providing any real support for those struggling.“People are rightly furious at Tory and SNP inaction.”Polling expert Sir John Curtice said: “Despite the current debate about