Such a big relief that inflation has fallen to 6.8%, the lowest rate since February 2022. And food inflation, well, that’s down to a mere 14.8%. On top of all that, wages are going up by more than the inflation rate unless, of course, yours aren’t, in which case there is still so much good news to cheer, right? Prices are falling, everything is cheaper. Celebrate good times, come on!
Slimy toad lying prime minister Rishi Sunak claims this shows “our plan is working“. “IT’S ME WHAT DONE IT!” So, let us compare his comments when inflation was even higher:
APRIL: “Why is inflation high?” Sunak: “Global factors.”
MAY: “Why is inflation high?” Sunak: “Global factors.”
JUNE: “Why is inflation high?” Sunak: “Global factors.”
JULY: “Why is inflation high? Sunak: “Global factors.”
AUGUST: “Why is inflation falling?” Sunak: “Because of our plan.”
Still, thank Sunak for small mercies. This is a good news story, isn’t it? Let’s stop talking our country down. Fishy Rishi has made food even cheaper than it was before. At least that’s what it sounded like on the radio today.
But of course despite appearances to the contrary, in this case the BBC’s supine and ineffectual coverage of the news, things aren’t getting cheaper. They’re getting more expensive. The increase in prices is an overall 6.8%, but if you want to eat as well, that’s going up by nearly 15%. How can this be presented as good news? It’s not quite as bad news.
The cheerful reports I heard didn’t attempt to confuse matters still further by referring to the ‘core’ inflation rate which, according to The Guardian, “strips out volatile items such as fuel and food“, remains at 6.9% and service sector inflation has actually gone up from 7.2% to 7.4%.
I am not an expert on the economy but quite honestly, I have long thought the ‘headline’ inflation figure, currently 6.8% (sorry about all these numbers), was what we refer to in technical terms as ‘bollocks’. For the year ending July 2023, air fares went up by an eye-watering 29.8%, restaurants and hotels by 9.6% and general accommodation services (hotels, B&Bs, hostels) have increased by 7.4%. It’s much worse than it looks.
Inflation, need I add, is far more detrimental to “the lower orders” as Sunak might refer to them than those with a few quid in the bank. I would suggest that however high inflation is, the main victims will be the worse off, a group which now includes many people who never thought they might be regarded as poor. But I have friends and acquaintances who can’t afford a holiday this year, who rarely if ever eat out, who rarely if ever stay in hotels and for whom life is becoming a real struggle. Add on the staggering increases in interest rates, caused directly, it should be added, by the actions of Liz Truss and KamiKwasi Kwarteng who crashed the economy barely a year ago, and people are in bother. In other words, despite Sunak’s spin, this is an inflation crisis, a cost of living crisis, made in Downing Street.
That old expression “if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves” never looked so stupid because now we have a country in which millions don’t have enough pennies to live on, never mind pounds.
Sunak’s extreme wealth, parading around Disneyland while one of his ministers removes Disney pictures from the walls of the shabby rooms housing child refugees, insulates him from the reality of the world and the lives of the people he could never understand.
Things are still going up in price but by less more than they were and people are getting poorer. I suppose the really good news is that the government no longer measures inflation by way of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and prefers the Consumer Prices Index(CPI). After all, July’s RPI rate was 9% and that would be so much worse.
