WESTMINSTER must “wake up” and deal with the “apocalyptic” cost of living crisis, says Dunfermline MSP.

Shirley-Anne Somerville has condemned the Conservatives over the UK Government's handling of the problem, as people across West Fife continue to struggle.

“This is the cost of living with Westminster – high food prices and rising energy costs while wages stagnate,” she said.

“People living across Dunfermline and West Fife want a comprehensive package of support but instead we have a Prime Minister and Chancellor asleep at the wheel.”

She said that residents had “delivered a message” to Boris Johnson through the recent local elections, where in Fife the SNP won 34 of 75 possible seats.

This week the Bank of England governor warned that households are facing “apocalyptic” food prices and that Brexit has been bad for trade across the country.

“The recent council elections in Scotland delivered a clear message to Boris Johnson that his broken, out of touch government must wake up and help households suffering from this Tory-made crisis,” Ms Somerville continued.

“They have to act now to prevent people from falling into – or further into – poverty and hardship.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, this week gave his response to newly released inflation statistics for April. that will ring alarm bells in households up and down the country.

These found that the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 7.8 per cent in the last 12 months, up from 6.2 per cent in March.

Monthly, this rose by 2.1 per cent in April, compared to 0.7 per cent in the same period last year.

The Chancellor said: “Countries around the world are dealing with rising inflation.

"Today’s inflation numbers are driven by the energy price cap rise in April, which in turn is driven by higher global energy prices.

“We cannot protect people completely from these global challenges but are providing significant support where we can, and stand ready to take further action.

“We’re saving the average worker £330 a year through reducing National Insurance contributions, changing Universal Credit to save over a million families around £1,000 a year, and providing millions of families with £350 each this year to help with their energy bills.”

In April the energy price cap, which protects households from short-term changes to prices, rose by 54 per cent in accordance with changes to the global energy market.