Sunak rules out tax cuts in inflation battle

Nothing has changed– that was the message Rishi Sunak sought to convey this afternoon, following the Bank of England’s interest rate hike. Speaking to journalists at one of his ‘PM Connect’ events in Kent, Sunak repeatedly emphasised his determination to battle inflation. ‘Rooting out inflation is not easy, requires difficult decisions, and it doesn’t happen overnight’ he warned, adding that ‘I am absolutely confident that if we hold our nerve and stick to our plan, we can halve inflation.’

That goal was once thought to be the most achievable of Sunak’s five pledges; increasingly it looks like one of the hardest – something the Prime Minister himself conceded earlier today at the Times CEO summit: ‘It’s clearly become more challenging, it’s clearly become harder, but we’re throwing everything we have at it’. He made another plea for restraint in public sector pay negotiations, in a potentially ominous sign for the teaching unions.