IF we were to believe Mark Garnier (View From Westminster, April 17) the cost of living crisis, which has affected the hard-pressed people of Wyre Forest since he was elected MP, is over.

The truth, as ever, is somewhat different.

An IPSOS MORI poll this month found that 80% of those asked felt there was a cost of living crisis in the UK in which they felt worse off with prices rising faster than incomes.

Working people are on average £1,600 a year worse off since the last election.

The fact that in April, for the first time since we had a Conservative Government, earnings were marginally rising faster than prices is no reason to put out the bunting or crack open the champaign.

While economic growth is to be welcomed, many people will ask whether this is because of the Tory Government or in spite of it.

The people of Wyre Forest know that there has been a 10% drop in real wages since 2010 and it will take more than a few months of growth to make up lost ground.

Millions of hard working nurses and teachers in the public sector have had their wages capped at 1% and many in the private sector remain stranded in low-paid, part-time jobs.

Almost one and a half million are working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs. The increased reliance on food banks in the UK, unheard of for decades, is clear evidence of how much people are struggling.

Furthermore, in the UK, average wages give little indication of how well most people are faring since the figures are skewed by the high wages of London and the South East.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that wages will be stagnant until 2019 whilst the price of such essentials as housing, food, energy and transport continue to rise.

At the next General Election the voters of Wyre Forest will be asked a simple question: are they better off than they were in 2010? On all the evidence, the answer will be a clear ‘no’.

Dr Matt Lamb Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Wyre Forest