Burnham has to sell Bank rate rises as ‘breathing space’ – good luck with that

PM’s push to cut cost of living is threatened by rising inflation and higher government borrowing costs

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Good luck to Andy Burnham convincing voters he is giving them “breathing space,” if the Bank of England ratchets up interest rates in the coming months.

That was the prospect opened up by Thursday’s minutes of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, which left rates unchanged at 3.75% – for now – but suggested policymakers may be unlikely to hold out much longer.