COMMENT Tougher times loom ahead for the UK. That is the lesson of the latest inflation report from the Bank of England. Interest rates may stay where they are for the next two years, even though the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee expects there to be a sharp decline in growth. So be it. The country must bear it.
Abroad, the UK confronts soaring commodity prices, a fragile global financial system and weakening economies, particularly the US. At home it suffers from a demoralised and mistake-prone government, a weak fiscal position, a damaged banking system, the beginnings of what may well be a substantial fall in house prices and a tumbling exchange rate. To all this must be added a big jump in consumer prices, which rose by 0.8 per cent in April alone.
