Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation?

Inflation could be stoked again at the Budget depending on tax policy.

For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation.

Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK would suffer the highest price growth out of any G7 country over the next two years.

Much of this is Reeves’ own making. A £25bn tax raid on employers last year forced businesses to pass costs onto consumers.

In a Cabinet meeting two weeks ago, the Chancellor said the cost of living was the “biggest challenge” for Britons. She urged her government to “bear down on inflation” by controlling public spendi