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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK’s inflation rate was now lower than “nearly all” major economies.<\/p>\n
“That would not have happened under Labour that refused to condemn the public sector pay strikes, that would have meant inflationary pay rises, inflation lasting longer,” he added.<\/p>\n
But Labour continue to press concerns about an ongoing cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n
Rachel Reeves, Labour\u2019s shadow chancellor, told the BBC: \u201cUnlike Conservative ministers, I’m not going to tell people that everything’s fine.<\/p>\n
“I know that the cost of living crisis is still acute, that even though inflation is falling, it doesn’t mean the prices are coming down, they’re just rising at a less fast rate.”<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney said millions of people wouldn’t be feeling any better off.<\/p>\n
“Rishi Sunak’s boasts will ring hollow to countless families seeing their mortgages skyrocket and agonising rises in shopping prices compared to just a few years ago.”<\/p>\n
Attempts by politicians to apportion blame for high inflation, or claim credit for it falling, should be treated with caution.<\/p>\n
The soaring cost of living was mainly driven by the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine which drove up global commodity prices.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, falling inflation was largely due to declining wholesale energy and food prices, along with 14 rate hikes by the Bank of England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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