The Government Must Reduce Prices of Goods and Services and Ensure Their Availability

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Once again, the government issues decisions to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, and once again, it prioritizes the interests of investors over those of the citizens. Today, the government issued a package of economic decisions to alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic, including reducing the prices of natural gas and electricity, freezing and not increasing electricity prices for industrial uses for a period of three to five years, providing one billion pounds to exporters in March and April, postponing the payment of property taxes due on industrial and tourism establishments for three months, reducing the stamp duty in the stock market, and reducing the tax on capital gains distributions, among other incentives. Meanwhile, the prices of protective and disinfectant supplies are doubling for ordinary people, and hundreds of thousands are losing their livelihoods due to the exceptional measures taken to combat the pandemic.

The direct beneficiaries of government support should be the millions of working families struck fatally twice by the pandemic: once by the deterioration of health services and once by the scarcity and rising prices of essential goods and services during the crisis.

We also demand the reduction of electricity, gas, and water prices for households, the suspension of bill payments, and the support and provision of protective and disinfectant supplies and essential goods until the pandemic is overcome. Additionally, we call for financial support for those whose income is affected by the exceptional measures.

We further demand that private hospitals take on their direct social responsibilities in facing the pandemic, integrate them into the Ministry of Health at this stage, and employ all the capabilities of the private health sector to combat the pandemic.