Political reporter

BRITAIN’S cost-of-living crisis is far from over, trade unions warned yesterday after inflation rose by more than expected.

Prices rose by 3.5 per cent in the year to April, up from 2.6 per cent in March and the highest rate for more than a year, according to government statistics.

The rise is higher than economists had been anticipating, with planned interest rate cuts likely to be put on hold.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Today’s inflation figures show that the cost-of-living crisis is far from over. Prices have risen a third faster than wages. 

“Workers will only stop feeling the pinch when wages catch up. The tried and tested method for pushing up pay is collective bargaining by trade unions.”

And TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called the rise “painful, but not unexpected.”
 
He said: “The Bank of England must stay the course and continue to cut interest rates to relieve pressure on households. High rates have already choked growth and hit businesses hard.”

Civil Service union PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “The government must act urgently to address the cost-of-living crisis, which has been exacerbated by today’s inflation hike. 

“Ministers must deal with the low pay that blights parts of the Civil Service and means thousands of civil servants are on or barely above the minimum wage after years of declining real pay. 

“Our members need and deserve a pay rise. Ministers have the chance to deliver it when they set this year’s pay remit guidance.”

Utility price rises were major contributors to the rising inflation rate, with the privatised water industry being a particular villain — water and sewerage prices rose by 26.1 per cent in April, the largest jump since records began 37 years ago.

Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill said earlier this week that he feared the bank was reducing rates too rapidly and that the momentum behind falling inflation was “stuttering.”

This signals that further rate cuts are improbable.

Scottish National Party economy spokesman Dave Doogan MP said: “The Labour Party must urgently get a grip of the soaring cost of living on its watch — with rising inflation, food prices and energy bills piling pressure on families.”