In British political history, food has previously played an important role. Clement Attlee’s postwar government saw the end of rationing as the political domestic issue of the day, and a young minister – Harold Wilson – made his name championing the end of these controls. Today, food is no less important. Since the economic crash, food prices have risen by 18 per cent – faster than prices overall.

It’s no surprise to me that when I speak to my Wirral constituents one of their major concerns is the rising cost of living. YouGov polling suggests that over the past year around half of people consistently say they think their family finances will get worse over the next year. For too many, being able to afford the weekly shop is now a regular headache.

Too many people in this country have conversations about what they have to cut this month to survive the next. At worst, some families even have to face the indignity of a food bank just to feed themselves or their children (we must be grateful to the volunteers who arrange the food banks; however they shouldn’t be having to do it in the first place). Tory ministers should have prioritised the problems of the country. Rather than giving millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 they needed to find ways to ensure that multimillion pound companies are not exploiting ordinary people. Remember this as they attempt a pre-election rewrite of their economic record.

The coalition government continues to shrug away cost-of-living criticism of their VAT hike. It’s not just the shadow chancellor who thinks these issues will get worse; former Bank of England governor Mervyn King’s open letters about inflation have also contained warnings to George Osborne about the impact his VAT rise has had.

As part of the policy review, Mary Creagh’s team have set out an approach to deal with some of these issues. Mary called the public mood correctly on the horsemeat scandal, and now she has suggestions to deal with trust in food standards, not least by making effective the Food Standards Agency after a botched reform by the Tories. Our agricultural and production sectors have a lot to give, though, especially if we address the skills deficit that exists in our food production industry. Secure, sustainable food supplies, where possible grown by ourselves could reduce prices for food for the consumer.

But action cannot just be left to central government. That’s why, locally to me, Labour-run Wirral council are creating a Food Plan to focus on fostering a healthy food culture built on the local food system. This is a bid to reduce the amount of people who have to use a local food bank. In measures that could be adopted nationwide, the plan seeks to raise awareness of healthy and sustainable food and foster skills in food growing, budgeting and cooking, as well as increasing markets for local producers. The local food bank on Wirral has supported a staggering 6,177 people to date in just 12 months, making it clear how big the problem is. Action on food prices needs to be taken on both a national and local level – tackling firms who rip off consumers and reducing the impact of VAT increases nationally, and supporting local schemes that can make a real difference on the ground. This is an area where Labour can put its One Nation values into practice, and where councils are run by Labour, they can start to do it today.

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Alison McGovern is the MP for Wirral South and tweets @Alison_McGovern

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Photo: Daniel North