Economic woes continue to define Rishi Sunak’s time in office. Last week, three announcements underlined the problems facing the government: the Bank of England raised interest rates, the Office for National Statistics announced national debt was greater than GDP, and we learned that core inflation – which takes out the prices for more volatile commodities such as fuel – is on the rise. Voters are not sanguine. Four in ten think their personal finances over the next year will get worse.
On the media round yesterday (25 June), the Prime Minister let his frustration with the situation show. He struggled to appear empathetic when pressed by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg to admit that higher interest rates will be painful for many. All is fair in the war against inflation, Sunak argued. He said he fully supported the Bank’s decision to raise rates and argued the government’s complementary job was to manage borrowing.
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