Press Story

Responding to the latest inflation statistics, William Ellis, senior economist at IPPR, said:

“Today's CPI figures show that inflation held steady at 3 per cent in February. Before Trump's conflict in the Middle East, inflation was on track to hit the 2 per cent target later this year. That progress is now under serious threat.

“Rising oil and gas prices are already feeding through to UK households and businesses — at the pump, on energy bills, and in the prices on the shelf. As long as we are heavily dependent on fossil fuels for our energy, we remain exposed to exactly this kind of crisis.

"Government should be prepared to act on prices directly if energy markets spiral further — whether through capping costs or other fiscal interventions — as well as speeding up the rollout of renewables to reduce our exposure before the next shock hits.”