More Brits ‘in financial strain’ as Trump frightens UK voters
Nearly two in five UK voters are either cutting their spending or are unable to pay essential bills due to ‘financial strain’, according to the latest Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll, as President Trump’s tariffs are set to send Chancellor Reeves’ growth plans into disarray.
The Chancellor said at her Spring Statement in March that Brits would be £500 a year better off but a fast-moving world has now put the electorate in a state of fear.
Around three in five UK voters said they were worried about the impact of US tariffs on their personal finances, a new poll of over 1,000 eligible voters by Morning Wire and Freshwater Strategy has revealed.
Some 28 per cent of respondents said they were “not very worried”, suggesting people are not shutting down the possibility of being hit by the worse outcomes of tariffs.
Trump’s economic policies could make existing problems worse as around 37 per cent of respondents said they were “impacted” or “troubled” by their low budgets.
More than one in ten said they were currently either unable to pay for essential bills or were incurring debt to do so.
Higher bills put Brits under risk
The tariffs top off a series of policies constraining people’s budgets as Reeves’ national insurance tax hike came into effect last Sunday.
Energy and water bills also spiked as around 86 per cent of voters responding over the course of last week said they had noticed an increase in their bills.
The change in prices have meant that over two thirds of people are cutting back on spending while a fifth of respondents suggested they would be unable to cover an emergency £500 bill.
The decline in people’s purchasing powers would be likely to concern policymakers at the Treasury and Bank of England.
The Bank currently projects inflation to hit a peak of 3.75 per cent this year while other forecasters predict its target of two per cent inflation will not be hit.
High inflation and low growth have sparked ‘stagflation‘ fears among leading economists as financial strains could squeeze disposable incomes further.
Method note: Freshwater Strategy interviewed n=1,250 eligible voters in the UK, aged 18+ online, between 4-6 April 2025. Margin of Error +/- 2.8%. Data are weighted to be representative of UK voters.