Boris Johnson has raised the spectre of a 1970s-style “wage-price spiral” that could force the Bank of England to push up interest rates dramatically if workers demand to be compensated for rocketing prices. Instead the prime minister promised a return to lowering taxes, cutting government spending and slashing regulation, after a renewed push by backbench Conservative MPs. It came as Conservative MPs prepared to formally launch a tax-cutting lobbying group, which some Tories claimed had already influenced the prime minister’s speech. Its six points urge Johnson to address the tax burden on families and business, soaring inflation, intergenerational unfairness, government borrowing and public sector debt. The prime minister said the government would announce several more measures aimed at cutting costs in the coming weeks, from making it easier to become a childminder, to cutting tariffs on imported food.

Source: The Guardian June 10, 2022 10:33 UTC