![]() The point here being that while inflation - the rate at which prices are up in the past year - is now down, that doesn't mean prices are down. In early 2022, fish inflation was nearly 30%. This is the beginning of a process which ends up determining how much you pay at the supermarket or a restaurant for your next fish and chips.Īnd as it happens, fish prices are more or less the same now as they were a year ago - actually according to the Office for National Statistics the going price for domestic fish is down 1.2% in the year to February.īut like everything else in the "shopping basket" that constitutes the overall inflation rate, fish prices have been on something of a rollercoaster in recent years.Īs the cost of everything else - the fuel for trawlers, the paper for packaging, the wages for fishermen - went up, so too did fish prices. In the space of about 20 minutes, the market conducts a series of auctions, with buyers crowded round crates of haddock, cod, halibut and so on, and the seller calling out an ever ascending series of prices to see what the wholesalers are willing to pay. So it was no coincidence that we visited Grimsby Fish Market, one of the most critical fish auction houses in the country, this morning, to coincide with the release of the latest UK inflation figures. They are the critical point where supply and demand meet - where sellers learn how much buyers are willing to pay for an item.Īnd there's no better place to see this embodied than at an auction. Often when we talk about statistics like inflation they have a tendency to sound rather dry and boring.īut prices are ultimately an incredibly important way of measuring what's going on in the economy. So even is something has turned up - is it simply too little too late? Tonight, Rishi Sunak has been speaking to his back benchers over in parliament, and reports from outside the meeting room say the mood is "calm".īut as we told you earlier this week - all eyes are now on the local elections in May as a moment of true jeopardy. He's now dubbed the "embattled" PM - there are few people who think his position's recoverable. So perhaps the perennial hope of this election year - that "something might turn up" is still alive.īut just as he edges into a landing zone, the politics for him have never been worse. ![]() ![]() Symbolic or not, he'd be able to claim the win.Īll stepping stones towards his election banner of "we've turned the corner". Inflation is falling faster than expected, which could mean the cut in interest rates that he and the chancellor desperately want to offer the electorate.Īnd there's still a chance at least one flight to Rwanda could take off in the spring. But it wasn't just the PM fighting back against Labour, as the SNP's Westminster leader drew cheers by comparing Sir Keir's team to a group of "born-again Thatcherites".īack in the autumn of last year when the Conservatives genuinely thought they could close the gap on Labour, we used to talk a lot about the Rishi reset.įinally, after so many false starts, there are now glimmers of hope for this prime minister.At PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer challenged Mr Sunak to call a general election, insisting his party is "ready" to take on the Tories.Leo Varadkar announced he would be stepping down as Ireland's prime minister following two stints in the role.Tube strikes were announced and then just hours later more rail walkouts were confirmed too.The Lib Dems launched their local election campaign with a typically bombastic stunt taking aim at the PM.Vaughan Gething became the new first minister of Wales, making history as the first ever black leader of a European country.But in more frustrating news for the PM, his government's Rwanda plan suffered yet another bruising night in the House of Lords.Rishi Sunak held a positive meeting with backbench Tory MPs that could ensure an end to talk of a plot to oust him.Here are the main points for you to catch up on - and we'll be back tomorrow morning with more news and analysis. It's been another busy day of political news both here in Westminster and further afield, what with the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar as Ireland's prime minister.
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