I’m hungry, cold and have multiple disabilities. Does Starmer’s promise of real change include me? | Marie

As a struggling single mother, the past 14 years have been brutal. I need to know he understands how hard life is for some of us in Britain

When Keir Starmer stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street as our new prime minister, he spoke of hope and of a promise that things will change for the better. But hope is in short supply in my household. At the age of 44, I have never been this skint, this hungry, this cold or this worried.

I am unable to work owing to multiple disabilities, and the past few months have been a very frightening time to be receiving benefits. While I understand people cheering the end of 14 years of the Conservatives, I am nervous that when Starmer promises change he is not thinking about people like me. In his victory speech he spoke of cleaners, builders, and nurses facing insecurity despite doing the right thing. I feel that insecurity every minute of every day, but simply cannot work because of my disabilities. That leaves me completely unable to make ends meet.

Marie (an alias) is a lone mother of three who lives in southern England. She takes part in Changing Realities, a coalition of parents and carers on a low-income, researchers at the University of York and Salford, and Child Poverty Action Group, working together for change

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