The embattled Chancellor faces more bad news this morning as fresh figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ reveal that food inflation is accelerating for the fourth month in a row as shops pass on the costs from Reeves’ tax raid to consumers. Food price inflation rose to 2.8% in May, up from 2.6% in April. Reeves is getting the blame for the surging prices with BRC’s CEO Helen Dickinson saying:
“With retailers now absorbing the additional £5 billion in costs from April’s increased employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and National Living Wage, it is no surprise that inflation is rearing its head once again. Later this year, retailers face another £2 billion in costs from the new packaging tax, and there are further employment costs on the horizon from the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill.”
Meanwhile overall inflation rose to 3.5% in April – its highest level in over a year. Prospects are cooling for rate cuts on Threadneedle Street…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”