Inflation rises at record speed

Inflation jumped at a record rate in December, official figures showed yesterday.

The Consumer Prices Index hit 2.9 per cent last month, the biggest ever rise in a single month. It was just 1.9 per cent in November.

The surge was because VAT was unchanged last month compared with the Government’s temporary cut to 15 per cent to help the economy a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said.