Chancellor to meet with regulators to discuss inflation targets

Hunt wants to ensure that energy, water and telecoms companies are making sure that consumers are paying fair prices for the essential services that the firms provide to them, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite. 

At the start of his premiership, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak included bringing inflation down below 5% as one his 5 key pledges to the country. 

This, at the time, was judged to be in line with various models and predictions from leading economists. 

Inflation remains at 8.7%, well above the Bank of England’s 2% target. 

Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “Here we have a tacit acknowledgement from the Chancellor that Britain is in the grip of a profiteering crisis. But to be honest, we need to go way beyond talking shops with regulators before we can be convinced the Chancellor is serious about tackling Britain’s epidemic of profiteering.

“Tinkering at the edges is just not enough. Unite’s own research has shown that if domestic energy had been in public ownership at the time the crisis hit we could have saved every household £1,800 and cut inflation by 4%. Tinkering at the edges, and talking shops about the crisis are just not enough.”