At last the REAL rise in the cost of living is revealed!

[shoeshine]

It's a fact that, to many people, the Treasury and the Bank of England's measure of the cost of living is completely out of kilter with the reality facing us here in Britain. This affects nearly everyone reading this post.

 

today's Telegraph Online

 

The cost of living for many British households is up to four times the Government's published rate of inflation, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

 

Millions of families are experiencing inflation far beyond the official rate of 2.4 per cent, new research suggests.

 

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England

The Government was last night accused of neglecting hard-up families as the research shatters the illusion that the Consumer Price Index - used by the Bank of England to set interest rates - represents the true cost of living as experienced by many households.

 

Pensioners are the hardest hit, with inflation rates of almost nine per cent, as record gas and electricity bills take a massive slice out of their budgets.

 

The revelation comes only days after the Government said there were no plans this year for extra cash for pensioners' winter fuel payments.

 

Both middle class and struggling families are also shown to be experiencing inflation well above the national average, as the increased costs of household bills, education and petrol erode their earnings.

 

and unless you are single, and living at home with your parents:-

 

from the same source

 

The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, said: "This is a stark illustration of how real living standards are falling, particularly for pensioners and the most vulnerable in society.

 

"Millions of people are struggling as the cost of living is rising faster than their incomes. What a legacy for Gordon Brown after 10 years in Downing Street."

 

The research, produced for The Daily Telegraph by Capital Economics, reveals the enormous difference between the CPI and the inflation rates experienced by many families.

 

According to the study, pensioners' costs rose by 8.9 per cent in the 12 months to October.

 

Hard-up families, getting by on £20,000 a year, saw their costs increase by 4.6 per cent — almost twice the national average and well above the annual rate of wage increases, 3.9 per cent.

 

Meanwhile, the increasingly large number of young Britons living at home with their parents — and not paying mortgages or bills — experienced deflation of 2.1 per cent, since many of the items they spend their money on, such as clothes and electrical goods, are falling in price.

 

 

I think the normal term for this sort of thing is "CREATIVE ACCOUNTING", a beloved technique used by the Spivs in our society.

 

 

FULL STORY HERE

[Bartfarst]

This should come as no surprise to anyone - in simple terms the Labour government is bleeding us dry and cooking the books to befuddle the voters, most of whom are just too dim to realise what is going on around them.

[nightrider]

Surely by definition many people experience larger than average inflation? Its an average. The article in the telegraph says many people experience deflation of 2% which would skew the average downwards. So basically the inflation rate varies as a function of peoples circumstances and the goverment is quoting the average?

 

But then again apparently the average omits mortgage and council tax increases.

[fox20thc]

Hard-up families, getting by on £20,000 a year

 

Ha! I should be so lucky!

[upholder]

On Noo Labour's website the header says, Labour: The Future For Britain

 

They forgot to add "it's misery" on the end.

 

I feel sorry for the pensioners.

[Cyclone]

The CBI has omitted house pricing for a long time, which is frankly ridiculous. How can you not consider the cost of buying or renting to be part of the cost of living.

 

They do keep referring to the average though, so someone (and it must be more than just young people still living with parents) must be experiencing inflation of less than the average.

[nightrider]

The CBI has omitted house pricing for a long time, which is frankly ridiculous. How can you not consider the cost of buying or renting to be part of the cost of living.

 

They do keep referring to the average though, so someone (and it must be more than just young people still living with parents) must be experiencing inflation of less than the average.

 

The end of the article says:

 

A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said: "The CPI and RPI are specifically not intended to measure what people often refer to as 'the cost of living'."

 

So that explains the discrepancy. Whether they should be considering 'cost of living' or CPI or RPI is another question though (which perhaps an econmics expert can tell us the anwser).

[Greybeard]

And not surprisingly the Conservative 1922 Committee are leading the call for MP's salaries to be increased from £60k to £75k or possibly £100k.

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2037478.ece

 

[BasilRathbon]

And not surprisingly the Conservative 1922 Committee are leading the call for MP's salaries to be increased from £60k to £75k or possibly £100k.

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2037478.ece

 

 

Bet they're waiting for a big news story so they can sneak it in while no-one's looking.

[Greybeard]

On Noo Labour's website the header says, Labour: The Future For Britain

 

They forgot to add "it's misery" on the end.

 

I feel sorry for the pensioners.

 

Well it's not just pensioners who suffer from the adverse skew in the CPI, most people working in the public sector are being cheated too, particularly the low paid.

 

Do I hear David Cameron saying he's going to stop all this jiggery-pokery with the CPI/RPI and use the real cost of inflation in calculating pension increases etc ?