Britain has the worst inflation in Western Europe; this is today’s story. CPI is 4.5 per cent and RPI is 5.2 per cent. This masks even worse rises which, as the IFS says today, hit the poor hardest. The price of a cauliflower is up 38 per cent to £1.26, potatoes are up 13 per cent to £1.54 a kilo. For millions, these are the most important metrics. Historically, it’s pretty bad.
You’d think a Bank of England legally mandated to keep CPI inflation at 2 per cent would be horrified at this, and start vowing to tame the cost of living. After all, this isn’t just a statistic: it means everyone’s savings and salary is worth 4.5 per cent less than it was a year ago. Inflation is, as Reagan said, as deadly as a hit man and as violent as a mugger.
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