Watch live: Keir Starmer faces grilling from Kemi Badenoch in Commons after surprise inflation fall
5 hours, 12 minutes ago

Watch live: Keir Starmer faces grilling from Kemi Badenoch in Commons after surprise inflation fall

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, 15 January, after a surprise inflation fall gave a boost to under-fire chancellor Rachel Reeves. The prime minister is likely to be grilled in the House of Commons on the state of the economy and his confidence in his chancellor after new figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation slowed to 2.5 per cent in December, from 2.6 per cent in November. Speaking to the BBC, former Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders said of the new figures: “I think you can hear a sigh of relief coming out from Downing Street, the Bank of England and across financial markets as a whole.” Hitting out at “unfair” criticism of Ms Reeves after the cost of government borrowing rose to its highest level since 1998, Treasury minister Darren Jones appeared to rule out an emergency budget in March, telling Times Radio on Wednesday that there will only be “one major fiscal event a year”.

History of this topic

Relief in the City: the new inflation rate means the BoE could cut rates as soon as next month
Trending News
5 hours, 13 minutes ago
Unexpected respite for Starmer as UK inflation slows against predictions by economists
7 hours, 25 minutes ago
Inflation unexpectedly falls to 2.5% in boost for Reeves’s plans
Trending News
8 hours, 52 minutes ago
Boost for Reeves as inflation falls after No 10 refuses to rule out emergency budget: Live
Trending News
9 hours, 2 minutes ago
A sharp rise in a single economic indicator could be curtains for the chancellor
2 days, 1 hour ago
Inflation rises AGAIN to its highest level since March: Price rises hit 2.6 per cent driven by spikes in the cost of petrol and fags to increase pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves
Trending News
4 weeks ago
Watch: Chancellor Rachel Reeves questioned on Budget after Keir Starmer admitted it will be ‘painful’
4 months, 1 week ago
Jeremy Hunt accuses Rachel Reeves of preparing to use inflation rise as cover for ‘planned’ tax hike
5 months ago
Sir Keir Starmer warned he risks stoking inflation if he hands millions of public sector workers inflation-busting pay rises of 5.5% while increasing the minimum wage
5 months, 3 weeks ago
Starmer confident interest rates will fall under Labour
7 months ago
UK inflation - live: Tories call for Bank of England to cut interest rates despite market gloom over rising prices
7 months, 3 weeks ago
Inflation falls to a two-year low – now will interest rates follow?
1 year ago
UK inflation rate slows to lowest level for more than two years
1 year ago
Hunt: we may see inflation blip in September
1 year, 4 months ago
Rishi Sunak hopes Britons will feel better off next year despite recession fears
1 year, 4 months ago
Inflation shock as Jeremy Hunt expects prices to go back up again
1 year, 5 months ago
Bank of England must see the job through to bring inflation down: Bailey
1 year, 6 months ago
Andrew Bailey and Jeremy Hunt bet their future on a shock 0.5 point rate rise
1 year, 6 months ago
Chancellor: ‘No alternative’ to interest rate rises to bring down inflation
1 year, 7 months ago
UK inflation: Consumer Prices Index rate rises to 9.4% in June from 9.1% in May
2 years, 5 months ago
Bank of England governor rejects criticism on inflation
2 years, 7 months ago
Higher inflation throughout the year, Bank of England Governor warns
3 years, 6 months ago

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