Labour movement anger at government twisting of statistics to "prove" that living standards are rising is justified, but the Tory ploy indicates an exposed nerve.

Ed Miliband's decision to highlight the cost of living crisis for working people caught the coalition government on the hop.

Smug Chancellor George Osborne had been happy to place all Tory-Liberal Democrat election eggs in his overblown claim of economic recovery, believing that this would blow Labour out of the water.

However, opinion polls indicate that the living costs scandal struck a chord with voters, benefiting Labour.

With a little time and effort statisticians can interpret data to demonstrate whatever they want, as government misrepresentation indicates.

But whatever experts may say, people's personal experience counters the sunshine story.

Cameron, Osborne and their willing Liberal Democrat helpers Nick Clegg and Vince Cable claim everyone bar the top 10 per cent has enjoyed improved living standards.

But they neglect to point out that the rich elite does not depend solely on its income but on accumulated wealth appreciation.

The tiny proportion of society that monopolises ownership of land, means of production and financial instruments commands an ever-expanding share of the country's assets.

Government ministers refer to pay levels, income tax and inflation rates, but they ignore the effect of their own policies in slashing a range of in-work benefits, increasing hardship for millions.

There has been a sharp spike in personal bankruptcies since the coalition took office in 2010, along with more frequent recourse to so-called payday loans.

This illustrates the hand-to-mouth existence experienced by many families where emergency high-interest loans are needed to cope with the regular flow of bills.

The contrast with big business, which is sitting on tens of billions of pounds in liquidity resources because it refuses to invest, could not be greater.

While working families face difficulty paying ever-escalating prices for gas, electricity, transport, food, housing and childcare, City speculators are already rubbing their hands in glee and expectation for the annual bonus bonanza for the favoured few that begins next week.

It's not the only cause of celebration for the City, with corporation tax due to be cut to 21 per cent in April and to 20 per cent next year, compared with 29 per cent in Germany.

In the 1970s, corporation tax in Britain was 52 per cent.

Slashing it was part of a process to reverse the postwar trend of working people taking a marginally larger share of national income each year.

Since then we have seen three decades of regression, with the proportion of national income given to wages sliding from 59.2 per cent in 1980 to 53.7 per cent in 2011.

Corporate profits as a share of GDP are at an all-time high, with the banking sector accounting for around 15 per cent of the total rather than 1 per cent, as in the 1960s.

It's an old refrain that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and it will remain so until we get a government committed to reversing the process through taxation, boosting the minimum wage and extending public ownership.

Any austerity agenda that involves an ongoing pay freeze for public-sector workers, reduced services and lower benefits will continue the historical transfer of wealth to a tiny rich minority.

The labour movement must maintain its strong opposition to such a recipe for disaster.