Cork the champagne: the UK’s inflation problem is even worse than we thought

Jeremy Hunt may have raised a celebratory glass to yesterday’s drop in the rate of inflation. But don’t be fooled: things will get a whole lot worse unless Rishi Sunak gets tough, and the Bank of England gets tougher, writes Chris Blackhurst

The Bank must get tougher (PA Wire)

There is good news and bad news in yesterday’s inflation figures.

Headline inflation has dropped, due to lower gas and electricity prices. That’s the positive part. But remove food and energy prices, and core inflation rose at an unchanged annual rate of 6.9 per cent. Services prices increased at an even faster pace. There’s the negative.

What this points to is that Britain is failing to get to grips with inflation, which is resolutely sticking. Yes, food is down but this is the result of a crackdown on “greedflation”, ie supermarkets raising their prices under the umbrella of inflation. Media and political pressure have forced them to make reductions.