in hong kong, it is 38 storeys high. many were having lunch when the fire broke out and were told, instead of going down, to go up to the roof and wait it out essentially until the fire was put out so they could be rescued and evacuated from the building. data released by the office for national statistics this morning shows the cost of living has risen at its fastest rate for ten years — with inflation standing at 5.1% in the year to november. the rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, was substantially higher than analysts had been expecting, up from 4.2% the previous month. the rise was partly driven by sharp increases in the cost of petrol and clothing. earlier i spoke to liz martins who's a senior uk economist at hsbc, and i asked her to explain the reasons for this rise in inflation.