Nick Robinson told a cabinet minister “it’s not going all that well” as Brits were hit with a wave of rising bills.
The start of what has been dubbed “awful April” saw the cost of things like council tax, the TV licence and mobile phone bills all go up.
It comes just days after chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled nearly £5 billion of cuts to benefits in a move which the government’s own assessment said would push 250,000 people into poverty.
Labour has pledged to make people better off by the time of the next election.
On Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, Robinson clashed with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds about the state of the economy.
He said: “Citizens Advice say it is the poorest who will suffer the most as a result of the increase in bills. The Resolution Foundation say it is the poorest who will suffer the most as a result of rising National Insurance.
“Everyone says it’s the poorest who will suffer the most as a result of the cuts the chancellor’s announced to benefits.
“It’s not going all that well this improving everybody’s standard of living, is it?”
But Reynolds insisted that “for the first time in a long time living standards are increasing”.
He said: “Wages are rising faster than inflation. That doesn’t mean people immediately feel that because of some of these pressures, I accept that.
“But it’s the lowest paid who will benefit the most from the rise in the national minimum wage today. It’s pensioners who are reliant on the state pension who will benefit the most from the triple lock. It’s everyone who has any transport needs, or the price of the goods they buy, that benefits from the freeze in fuel duty.
“It’s the lowest paid that will benefit from breakfast clubs and it’s every one of us who will benefit from those three cuts to interest rates since the election because the economy has been run in a sensible and stable way for the first time in a long time.”
