UK inflation hits highest figure in almost a decade as food prices rise – as it happened

• Inflation rises to 3.2% in biggest leap on record but ONS says rise likely to be temporary; stock markets fall as China retail sales and industrial production slow
• UK housing market cools in July
• Countryside leaseholders in victory in ground rent scandal
• John Lewis to recruit 7,000 temporary workers for Christmas
• Closing summary

Julian Jessop, economics fellow at the free market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, says UK inflation could reach at least 4.5% by Christmas, potentially rising as high as 5%.

Some of the upward pressures on inflation should be temporary, including higher energy costs and base effects' in the annual comparison. For now at least, medium-term inflation expectations are also still quite low.

However, these temporary upward pressures have turned out to be both stronger and longer lasting than expected. Why take the risk that higher inflation becomes baked in?