MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, Julia Lopez, has welcomed new figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that inflation has decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 8.7%.
Economies have been shocked by high inflation driven by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, higher energy prices, and economies reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic. This has all caused the cost of goods to increase. One of the Prime Minister’s five promises was to halve inflation by the end of the year. With confirmation that inflation has fallen to 8.7%, it demonstrates that the government is making progress towards the target, with more work to do.
The government knows inflation is the enemy that makes every resident poorer – eating into pay packets and savings. Mrs Lopez has supported the action taken by the government to halve inflation including paying half of people’s energy bills over the winter, reducing one of households’ biggest outgoings. Estimates reckon this measure kept inflation 4 percentage points lower. The freeze on fuel duty has helped keep down the price of fuel for motorists and temper inflation. At Spring Budget 2023, the 13th consecutive fuel duty freeze was delivered, saving motorists £200 since the 5p cut was announced.
Mrs Lopez is also pleased that the unemployment has remained near record lows. Maintaining a strong workforce, driven by the government’s package to support more people into work, strengthened the government’s ability to tackle inflation.
The Bank of England has welcomed the government’s efforts to stabilise the public finances, including avoiding agreeing above-inflation pay rises across the public sector. The significant £94 billion package of cost of living support put in place by the government has provided, on average, support worth £3,300 per household. Mrs Lopez has strongly supported measures to help households through the cost of living, including the uprating of the State Pension and benefits, and hopes these efforts will continue to see further decreases in inflation in the months ahead.
