Inflation in the UK rose to 9.1 per cent in May, reaching a new high in four decades.
The consumer price index rose to 9.1 percent, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compared to 9 percent in April.
The consumer price index, including the cost of homeowners (CPIH), rose 7.9% in the 12 months to May from 7.8% in April.
This was primarily due to household services such as rising electricity bills, transportation costs and food prices, with inflation rising by 9.9 percentage points in the last 12 years.
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The retail price index, which was determined by the cost of train tickets, rose to 11.7 percent.
Last week, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.25 per cent, but said it could raise them more in the future to curb further inflation.
Liberal Democrat Treasury Department spokeswoman Christine Jardin complained that Chancellor Rishi Sunak “stands by while millions of people suffer from tearful inflation rates – he either has neither the mind nor the heart to intervene,” and urged him to cut VAT.
The Resolution Foundation warned that rising gasoline prices would lead to even higher inflation in June, while low-income families continue to face the greatest pressure on the cost of living.
The Progressive Analytical Center also points out that inflation for the poorest tenth of households is about 10.3 percent compared to 8.7 percent for the richest tenth. This 1.6 percentage point cost of living gap is the largest since comparative records began in the early 2000s.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the Free Market Alliance of Taxpayers, argues that “spiraling inflation is affecting taxpayers.
“While hard-working families are facing a cost-of-living crisis, demands for further wage increases in the public sector run the risk of increasing this burden and igniting inflationary fires. Now is the time for the government to be bold and implement significant tax cuts, giving much-needed respite to both private and public sector workers, ”he continued.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominique Raab said this morning in light of the railroad strike that unions are calling for higher wages, saying wage restraint is necessary as inflation rises, telling Sky News: “If we don’t have these restrictions , inflation will rise for a long time and this will only undermine the wage packages of workers, especially the most vulnerable, for a longer period of time.
He continued: “We are taking action, we are taking a firm stand, for example, with the RMT union precisely because we want to protect this erosion of paid packages by inflation.”
