Inflation in Great Britain weakened again in April. Consumer prices rose by 2.3 percent over the year, after 3.2 percent in the previous month, as the ONS statistics office announced in London on Wednesday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke of an “important moment for the economy”. His conservative Tories are trailing the social democratic Labor Party in polls. Sunak is likely to hope that the new data will be of use to him in the upcoming election campaign – the British must elect a new parliament by January 2025 at the latest.
The Labour Party pointed out that the cost of a typical supermarket purchase under the Conservative government had risen by £1,000 (€1,174) since 2010. “I can understand why a Conservative Prime Minister who is richer than the King would run to the TV studios to tell the British that they have never had it so good,” wrote Labour Shadow Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in the tabloid Sun. “But Sun readers only need to look at their bank accounts and the price of their weekly shop to know they are worse off.” Former investment banker Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, whose father co-founded the Indian IT group Infosys, are considered the richest couple in Downing Street history with an estimated fortune of £651 million.