Interest rate hike points to the Bank keeping its foot firmly on the brake

The half-point rise wasn't the limit of the measures announced by a central bank accused - until now - of acting too slowly on inflation

Despite believing that Britain is already in the early stages of a recession, the Bank of England voted to raise interest rates by 0.5 percentage points at the latest meeting of its monetary policy committee.

That's the first unusual aspect of the latest pronouncement from Threadneedle Street. In the past, a slowing economy - let alone one already going backwards - would be the signal for lower borrowing costs.