综合BBC、《卫报》等英媒报道,当地时间18日,英国伦敦爆发大规模游行活动,抗议生活成本飙升。

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数千抗议者高喊着口号,举着写有“英国需要加薪”、“削减战争,而不是福利”、“结束燃油贫困、解决房屋问题”等横幅穿过伦敦市中心,要求英国政府出台更多措施以应对通货膨胀及民众支出涨幅大于收入涨幅的现状。

Thousands of people have gathered in London to protest against the government’s lack of action in tackling the cost of living crisis. Demonstrators carried banners reading “Britain needs a pay rise”, “cut war not welfare” and “end fuel poverty, insulate homes now”, calling for the government to do more to help as people's expenses rise more quickly than their wages.

“现在的问题是他们(英国政府)想让我们怎么活下去,我们怎么能吃上饭,怎么能有住处遮风挡雨。根本就是不可能的。” 参与当天游行的抗议者保利特在接受采访时表示。

“So it’s becoming a case of how do they expect us to survive. How are we expected to put food on the table, to have a shelter over our heads? It’s impossible,” said one of the protesters Morgan Paulette.

另一位在伦敦南部一家住房慈善机构工作的抗议者罗宾逊表示,现在一些民众面临“是养活孩子还是自己,是养活孩子还是支付房租和取暖费的难题。任何人都不应该面对这样的选择”。

Ben Robinson, 25, who works for a housing charity in Brixton, south London, was at the protest. He said some residents faced a choice "between feeding their own kids, not themselves, their own kids, and paying rent and heating, and that is just not a choice that anyone should have to face".

这次游行活动由英国工会联盟 (TUC) 组织。该工会此前的一项研究表明,自2008年以来,由于工资跟不上通货膨胀的速度,英国职工们已经损失了近2万英镑。

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) organised the protest, after research carried out by the union suggested workers have lost almost £20,000 since 2008 because pay has not kept pace with inflation.

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英国工会联盟秘书长弗朗西斯·格雷迪表示,“工资水平推动通货膨胀的说法根本就是胡说八道。每个人都清楚,通货膨胀是全球能源价格飙升导致的。相反,政府应当承担责任,为劳动者们提供真正的帮助。”

“Frankly, it’s nonsense to suggest that wages are driving inflation when everybody knows that this is about global energy crisis,” general secretary of the TUC Frances O'Grady said, “And on the contrary, the government should be getting its act together and providing real help for working people.”

持续几个月来的俄乌冲突和对俄制裁影响了能源和粮食的供应,导致英国通胀水平不断飙升,民众生活成本大大提高。

据路透社18日报道,最新数据显示,英国4月份消费者物价指数 (CPI) 的同比增幅已经达到9%,创近40年来的新高。

British inflation surged last month to its highest annual rate since 1982. Consumer price inflation hit 9% in April, the Office for National Statistics said last Wednesday.

上个月,国际货币基金组织 (IMF) 预测,与世界其他主要经济体相比,英国在2023年将面临更缓慢的经济增长和更持久的通胀。

Last month, the International Monetary Fund forecast Britain in 2023 faced slower economic growth and more persistent inflation than any other major economy.

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路透社表示,据一项调查显示,为节约生活成本,英国三分之二的人关掉了暖气,近一半的人减少了开车次数或更换了超市,还有超过四分之一的人表示他们减少了每天的用餐次数。

The cost-of-living squeeze in Britain has led to two in three people in the country turning off their heating, almost half are driving less or changing supermarkets and just over a quarter say they have skipped meals, a survey showed.

而英国政府对此反应迟缓遭到了民众的批评和不满。据数据分析公司YouGov的一项调查显示,72%的受访者认为英国首相约翰逊政府处理经济的方式很糟糕,这一数据几乎是一年前的两倍。

A separate poll by YouGov showed 72% of respondents thought that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was handling the economy badly, almost double the share a year ago.

来源:央视网 CGTN BBC 卫报 路透社

本文转载自21世纪英文报,已获授权