Gordon Brown has led calls for the Chancellor to keep families out of “extreme poverty” as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Along with Labour leaders of councils, metro mayors and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, Mr Brown has written to Rishi Sunak.

The group called for the national insurance rise to be scrapped, as well as the restoration of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and the uprating of benefits in line with the current rate of inflation.

Extra help, the letter said, should also be offered to those struggling most to help heat their homes, including increased funding for insulation as part of a longer term programme of retrofitting.

“April 2022 brings us the worst cost of living crisis for half a century,” the letter said.

“Six million low income families have already lost £20 a week because of the cut in Universal credit in October.

“Further cuts in the value of their incomes, as heating bills surge and food bills soar, will deepen the cost of living crisis millions face.

“They are unfair and for millions will be unbearable, pushing them over the edge into extreme poverty and unable to afford to heat their homes or provide the nutrition their children need.

“Families and communities in every part of the United Kingdom face a heavy price of severe hardship, and each of us is deeply concerned about the  damage that will be done to the cohesion of our whole country.

“In response, a group of us including the First Minister of Wales, metro mayors, and local authority leaders have come together from all parts of the country to make a special and unprecedented plea to the Chancellor.”

The leaders urged Mr Sunak to unveil the measures during his statement to Parliament next week.

“We are already seeing the impact of rising poverty in all our areas. Nothing less than these four measures, introduced simultaneously on March 23, can prevent fuel poverty hitting millions more in our country, and stop poverty as a whole rising faster than at any time in recent history,” they wrote.

“At stake is unacceptable and avoidable suffering for millions of our fellow citizens – and especially for millions of children – across our communities.”