Bailey of the Bank reminded me of a WW1 General Melchett: ‘It’s going to be tough, and we at HQ will be thinking of all those other ranks going over the top to fight inflation for us’. Ms Truss could add ‘Don’t worry, my tax cuts will help those of you Above Stairs whether the storm’. The problem is, the Bank of England is chief inflation-fighter, but has only one weapon, interest rates. To maintain the analogy, like trying to win a war in the trenches when all you can do is bomb civilians. The inflation-fuelling enemies now are fuel prices and Brexit, both of which require a rather more targeted response; intelligence and drones rather than carpet-bombing, perhaps.
“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”
I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.
