LONDON: Former Conservative Party leader and senior legislator Iain Duncan Smith said on Saturday that Britain’s Conservative administration must act now to help people most affected by a deepening cost-of-living crisis.

Consumer price inflation in the United Kingdom reached 9% in April, the highest annual rate since 1982, putting finance minister Rishi Sunak under pressure to do more to assist households struggling to afford rising food, gasoline, and energy prices.

Duncan Smith, a former work and pensions minister, said on BBC radio that as part of a “special fiscal event,” in effect an emergency budget, welfare benefits should be adjusted in line with inflation right away.

“I don’t think we can afford to wait until later in the year. I think that will begin to look complacent,” he said.

“People need to see that we care enough to act immediately and I would recommend that the government pauses and then acts big, it acts boldly and it’s brave about this because we have one responsibility to help those who desperately need it most.“

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