It’s not pay claims that are driving up prices in Britain. It’s profits

Whatever the chancellor and the Bank may suggest, wage settlements are still running behind the rate of inflation

Is inflation the fault of the workers? Striking nurses and rail staff could be forgiven for starting to believe that rising prices can be blamed on their demands for pay. Jeremy Hunt said as much last week, as did the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey.

By the same token, warehouse workers distributing goods for Aldi, who received a 10% annual pay rise, and East Midlands airport security staff, who secured a whopping overall 17% increase this year, must also be to blame. If wages account for about 70% of a business's expenses on average, then it must be true that bumper wage increases are the enemy of those who seek to bring down inflation.