Aside from the breaking news about the massive interest rate rise, the Bank of England’s report today makes for grim reading. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) projects a “prolonged period” of recession, with CPI inflation remaining over 10% in the near term. Even taking into account that economic predictions are about as reliable as a long-term weather forecast, the report makes for truly grim reading…

While inflation is expected to fall “sharply” from mid-2023, GDP is expected to decline by around 0.75% during the second half of 2022, and continue to fall throughout 2023 and the first half of 2024. The BBC says this would be the longest recession since records began in the 1920s, albeit not the deepest…

Perhaps most worrying of all for the government, the MPC expects the unemployment rate to rise to just under 6.5% by Q4 of 2025, up from the current 2022 Q4 projection of 3.7%. In real terms this would leave an extra million working brits on the dole. Perfect timing – right around the last possible election date…