UK hit by inflation at highest rate for 30 years

Prices are rising so quickly in the United Kingdom that unions said this week workers will need annual pay hikes of 10 percent, just to keep up.

With a huge increase in taxation on earnings set to start in April, fuel bills destined to skyrocket as new annual tariffs also begin next month, and with supply-chain issues leading to massive price rises on high-street shelves, many people were hoping Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak would make some concessions to off set the pain in his spring statement on Wednesday afternoon.

The statement, which along with the autumn budget is one of two main times each year the UK's finance minister makes significant adjustments to taxation and government spending, was delivered against the backdrop of food prices rising at the fastest rate for a decade and overall inflation running at 6.2 percent for the 12 months ending February-which is the highest it has been for 30 years.

With the Bank of England saying inflation, which pundits say may now be 8 percent, could hit double digits before the year's end, lobbyists have called on Sunak to help the less-well-off by cutting fuel duty, boosting welfare payments, and raising the threshold at which National Insurance contributions begin.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, told the BBC: "Rising inflation remains a significant concern for the economy, squeezing household incomes and increasing cost pressures on retailers."

Andrew Selley, chief executive of the catering supplies company Bidfood, said on Radio 4's Today program: "We're seeing much bigger increases on things like cooking oil, chicken, cheese, butter. Nothing exotic; these are standard food staples and we're seeing much bigger increases in those at the moment."

He said the cost of the diesel used to deliver his ingredients has also shot up, by 40 percent in the past year, and electricity has jumped massively as well. All of which, he said, must be passed on to the consumer.

Sky News said ahead of the spring statement that Sunak would promise to "stand by "hardworking families, with initiatives in the pipeline to support those struggling the most.

He was set to say he will work to ensure "the security of more resilient public finances … And security for working families, as we help with the cost of living".

The Resolution Foundation think tank said he did, at least, have some wriggle room, because government borrowing for the current financial year stands 26 billion pounds ($34.4 billion) less than London had been expecting. The nation's borrowing during the first 11 months of the 2021-2022 financial year totaled 138.4 billion pounds, which was far below the record 290.9 billion pounds London borrowed during the previous financial year, and significantly less than many experts feared.