It is not something you hear a Chancellor say every day, not least 12 to 18 months out from a general election. Asked if he was “comfortable with the Bank of England doing whatever it takes to bring down inflation, even if that potentially would precipitate a recession”, Jeremy Hunt replied: “Yes”.
This is all the more remarkable given that recent economic forecasts from the Bank and the International Monetary Fund have suggested that Britain will avoid a contraction. However, that was before this week’s inflation figures, which showed that while headline CPI had fallen sharply, core inflation — which strips out more volatile prices — had risen to a 31-year high.
