Inflation hitting Scots hard as cost of food and fuel remain 'eye-wateringly high'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Inflation continues to hit ordinary Scots hard with the cost of food and fuel remaining "eye-wateringly high". The rate at which prices rise on average remained 8.7 per cent in May, the same as the previous month.Interest rates are now widely expected to rise to 4.75 per cent on Thursday - meaning higher monthly payments for many Scots with mortgages.

But the least well-off households are being hardest hit by so-called "sticky inflation".Experts at the Resolution Foundation warned inflation rates for the poorest tenth of households are 25 per cent higher than those for the richest tenth of households as they spend more of their income on food and energy bills.

The Office for National Statistics warned core inflation was now at its highest level in 31 years.And the UK's debt pile reached more than 100 per cent of economic output for the first time since 1961 as government borrowing more than doubled in May, according to official figures.Roz Foyer, the general-secretary of the STUC, said: "Far from coming down, inflation remains stubbornly high and is eating further into the living standards of ordinary working people across Scotland. "The biggest rises continue to hit workers the hardest as food, energy and fuel costs remain eye-wateringly high.

We need to see real cost of living pay rises and we need to see them now."The Scottish Government must immediately scrap its punitive public sector pay strategy of 3.5 per cent and ensure workers get a decent pay rise that allows them to live with dignity in Scotland."Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves blamed the Conservative UK Government for failing to "get a grip" of inflation.