of borrowing up to its highest in 15 years, to try and get soaring prices under control, by limiting the spending power of households and businesses. it s not expected to start cutting rates today, but it is under growing pressure to do so. here s why. on wednesday, we learned that inflation the rate at which prices are rising came down more sharply than expected last month, from 4% injanuary to 3.4% in february. thats a huge fall from its peak, back in october 2022, when inflation was running at three times that level, at 11% a year. inflation here in the uk is now at its lowest in two and a half years, but it is still above the target the bank of england sets itself, of 2%, and people across the country are still feeling the effects of higher prices, despite claims by the prime minister that the economy is on the road to recovery. our economics editor faisal islam has more. the first day of spring is often a turning point of renewal, but at this farm shop near crewe, th
good evening. there has been some welcome news for the economy, with a sharper than expected fall in inflation that s the rate at which prices rise from li% injanuary to 3.1i% in february. that is its lowest level in more than two years. it means prices are still rising but at a slower rate. in a moment, we ll be speaking to our political editor chris mason, but first to our economics editor faisal islam with his assessment. thanks, reeta. today s fall means inflation has come a long way down from the peak of 11% back in october 2022 as you can see here. but inflation is still a bit higher than the bank of england s target rate of 2% in the dotted red line. earlier i spoke to the prime minister, who told me that the uk economy is notjust turning a corner but bouncing back, and that many people were seeing green shoots of recovery but i ve also been out and about near crewe, meeting people who are yet to see that. the first day of spring is often a turning point of ren
levels isn t yet hitting home. the energy bills should be coming down by now. not from what i ve seen. they keep putting the standard charge for electricity up and gas. but it doesn t feel like. the cost to go out for the day and eating and drink seems to be going up as well. sometimes ijust don t even, like, pay for my wi fi because i can t, so we have to go without. everything isjustl going up, isn t it? everything. and you don t think that that s starting to calm down or stabilise? anything you can see in your own bills? maybe our gas and electric is i slightly better than it was or not as bad as it was getting, but apart from that, no, not really. the latest figures show food costs and prices in cafes and restaurants helping drive inflation down to 3.1i% last month the lowest level for two and a half years, well down on its 11% peak. from here, the headline rate of inflation is likely to fall below 2%, that s the government s target, driven by those falls in energy pr
an important but controversial part of its policy to deter migrants attempting to come to the uk illegally by boat. joining me to discuss it on my panel for the next hour is the democratic strategist mary anne marsh and phillip rycroft former permanent secretary in the department for exiting the european union. also on the programme. arizona s blistering heat wave continues as us president biden heads to the state to promote his clean energy plans. under an hour until the deadline for donald trump s legal team to respond to a justice departments request that could limit what information the former president is permitted to share publicly. first let s focus on the barge for asylum seekers here in the uk. the government hopes that around 500 men can be housed on board the vessel called the bibby stockholm. but so far, just 15 are on board. ministers say the barge will be better value for taxpayers than hotel rooms, which are costing more than six million pounds a day. t