Sunak hopes of pre-election interest rate cuts frustrated by inflation slow puncture

The prospect of a first interest rate cut this year as late as November plays badly for Rishi Sunak. Photograph: Benjamin Cremel/AP

When the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, told an event in Washington on Tuesday that the UK economy was “disinflating”, it raised the hopes of mortgage payers and indebted businesses that a cut in the cost of borrowing could be on the way soon.

But less than 24 hours later, the latest UK inflation data and worsening interest rate forecasts have curtailed those aspirations.