Analysis: Britain faces universal credit cut, public sector pay freeze and national insurance rise
Prices are climbing in the shops and consumers face an autumn crunch. Official figures show inflation rose at the fastest rate in a decade in August, as the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit drives up the cost of living.
Surpassing the forecasts of City economists, the 1.2 percentage point increase in the consumer price index was the largest since January 1997, the year Gordon Brown would later handthe Bank of England independence to manage inflation. At 3.2%, the CPI is now the highest since March 2012.