Can Sunak really take credit for future interest rate cuts?

When the Bank of England finally delivers an interest rate cut, can the Tory party take credit for it? Rishi Sunak thinks so. ‘We are the party who has committed to bringing down inflation, which is a necessary condition for bringing down interest rates,’ he told the Times in an interview published today. ‘And I think people can see we have delivered that.’

Of course no politician is in a position to promise or deliver a rate cut. That decision sits firmly with the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee, who this month voted to hold the base rate 5.25 per cent for the six time in a row. But to be fair to Sunak, he has not suggested he controls interest rates or that his party can offer up lower rates as a policy. Rather, he is trying to link what his party thinks is done to tackle inflation to rates now ‘heading in the right direction’ – with an expected cut to take place towards the end of the summer.