Fear not: there is little danger of inflation running wild

Retail sales and confidence are falling, and the net effect of the budget will be deflationary. Rate rises will prove unnecessary

Next month the Bank of England might begin the long road back to higher interest rates. Plenty of financial traders believe comments and speeches by the governor Andrew Bailey and some of his colleagues make it a likely possibility.

If it doesn't happen in November, the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) will meet again in December to survey the economy. It could be then that the nine-strong group takes on the Grinch's mantle, stealing Christmas cheer with a hike in the nation's cost of borrowing.