Chancellor responds to September 2023 inflation statistics + reactions

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt responded to ONS inflation statistics for September 2023

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, said:

“As we have seen across other G7 countries, inflation rarely falls in a straight line, but if we stick to our plan then we still expect it to keep falling this year. Today’s news just shows this is even more important so we can ease the pressure on families and businesses.”

Additional information

• As is the usual process, the Secretary of State will conduct his statutory annual review of benefits and State Pensions using the most recent data available.
• Most major forecasters now say we are on track to halve the rate this year. We are tackling it by:

o Supporting the Bank of England as it returns inflation to the 2% inflation target.

o Resisting calls for reckless spending that would make inflation worse.

o Introducing ambitious measures to help people back into work.

o Investing in clean, home-grown energy.

o Encouraging banks to pass on higher savings rates and supermarkets to help families with the cost of living.

• The latest Monetary Policy Report, published by the Bank of England, forecasts that inflation will fall below 3% in a year’s time.
• Food inflation is slowing. The latest ONS statistics show food inflation has slowed to 12.3% and Kantar’s grocery market figures have shown food inflation slowing for the seventh month in a row. 
• Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Bank of England. The government remains fully committed to the Bank’s independence, and the inflation target of 2%. 

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, responding to the latest inflation figures, said:

“Working people have been left worse off because of thirteen years of chaos and instability under the Conservatives.

“Britain is forecast to have the highest rate of inflation of any other major economy next year, meaning higher energy bills and prices in the shop. Rishi Sunak has no plan to fix the economy and he is too weak to stand up to the policies of Liz Truss. Working people cannot afford another five more years of the Conservatives.

“Labour’s plan for the economy will make working people better off by boosting growth, cutting household bills and getting Britain building again.”

Responding to the latest inflation figures Unite’ general secretary Sharon Graham, said: 

“As the cost-of-living crisis nears its second winter, millions of people face the prospect - yet again - of choosing between heating and eating. Headline inflation is still painfully high. In the real world, prices are still rising at a punishing rate.  

“For all his talk about ‘tough choices’, the prime minister has failed to make the obvious one – it is time to help out ordinary people by taxing the excess profits of the businesses lining their pockets at our expense.” 

Responding to inflation remaining at 6.7% for September, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

“The Government’s promise to halve inflation seems to not be worth the paper it’s written on.

“People are struggling to put food on the table, pay their mortgage bill and heat their home, yet this Government doesn’t seem to care.

“The very least ministers could do is offer struggling families and pensioners some reassurance, by committing to properly raising benefits in line with inflation and protecting the triple lock on pensions.”

“Not doing so would callously fail to recognise the intense pressure that the Conservative party’s economic vandalism has set upon households and would risk another heating and eating crisis this winter.”

Commenting on today’s (Wednesday) inflation figures showing the September CPI unchanged at 6.7 per cent, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“Bills and prices are still going up - just a bit more slowly than they were a year ago.

“While other countries have acted decisively to reduce cost of living pressures, working families and businesses here remain seriously under the cosh.

“Let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture. The UK is teetering on the brink of recession, with employment falling as companies scramble to cut costs.

“The Conservatives' lack of a credible economic plan is costing us dear. Britain cannot afford the Tories.”

TUC analysis shows the UK has the highest rate of inflation in the G7

National Debtline responds to latest inflation figures 

The Office for National Statistics has today published its latest Consumer Prices Index, which shows the rate of inflation remained at 6.7 percent in the 12 months to September 2023.  

David Cheadle, Acting Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runsNational Debtline, said: 

"Inflation remains stubbornly high and these figures will do nothing to alleviate the anxiety for millions of people already dealing with mounting debts. 

“Our advisers at National Debtline are hearing first-hand the impact that sustained high costs have had on struggling households.  

“With winter fast approaching, many people are once again facing impossible choices between turning the heating on or going without meals.  

“More action is needed to support households experiencing financial difficulty, including through a government backed ‘Help to Repay scheme to help with unaffordable energy arrears.  

“I would urge anyone who is worried about their finances to contact National Debtline for free, expert advice.”    

JRF: For ministers to cast doubt on full benefit uprating after latest inflation figures is unacceptable​

Responding to today's latest CPI inflation rate, 6.7%, JRF Chief Economist Alfie Stirling said: 

“The September inflation rate of 6.7% published today is the one government is expected to use to uprate benefits next April. For ministers to cast doubt on whether they will deliver this uprating in full is unacceptable. Millions of families need the certainty that benefit payments will begin to recover some of the significant real terms losses suffered over the past two years, and they need that certainty now. 

“As families continue to struggle with rapidly rising prices, this crisis is also evolving in new and dangerous ways. Not only are people now struggling to cope with the direct impacts of higher interest rates themselves, as credit cards, overdrafts and bank loans all become more expensive, but the wider economic slowdown in the jobs market is beginning to bite. The latest data suggests unemployment has risen faster in the past two months than the Bank of England had predicted for the entire coming year, with workers in typically lower paying and less secure sectors at greatest risk.

“The government is treating our vital income support system, and the millions of lives it affects, as a political football. This is yet another reason why we need an Essentials Guarantee, where we move to a protected minimum level of support across all benefits that guarantees everyone, at the very least, can afford the basic essentials.”