Money blog: Three supermarket items have gone up 28% in a year - here's a list of what's up and down (2024)

Each week we ask top chefs to take part in ourCheap Eatsfeature. Today we speak to Jack Bond, chef-owner of Michelin-starred The Cottage in the Wood in Cumbria.

Hi Jack, what are your go-to cheap eatsfor two, for less than £40 in Cumbria?

Barua/Lake Road Brunch. A brunch spot by day, and Indian street food by night in Keswick. The menu is made up of delicious sharing plates, predominantly veggie, with loads of flavour and different textures. The dosa is a standout dish and the tower of onion bhajis!

The George & Dragon, at Clifton near Penrith, does a great Sunday roast. You can have two or three courses, but make sure you leave room for their tiramisu.

The Kirkstile Inn at Loweswater. This is my go-to pub on a day off. The location is perfect for an afternoon swim, followed by their own ale - Loweswater Gold.

The Round is a great burger restaurant in the heart of Keswick. They have great cocktails too. You always have to queue as it's so popular with locals and tourists.

What's your go-to cheap meal at home?

One-pan roast chicken salad.

Cover a chicken in spice paste (like Harissa or Thai curry paste) and roast over potatoes, broccoli, and chorizo at 200 degrees.

Once cooked, let the chicken rest over the veg for 10 minutes.

I use all the chicken juices mixed with yoghurt to make a dressing.

The chicken is stripped and added with the veg to salad leaves, and any other ingredients I need to use up.

How did you get into cheffing?

I started as a kitchen porter, working on a Saturday when I was 14.

I soon realised I enjoyed working far more than school, so left after my GCSEs to pursue a cooking career - and the rest is history, as they say.

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Traders have taken the news of higher-than-expected inflation and reckon interest rates are less likely to be cut. But elsewhere, the inflation impact has been muted.

The FTSE 100 benchmark UK stock index is up 0.19% but still not recovered from a bad last week.

It's been led by British software company Sage Group, with its share price up a whopping 18.34% after it reported a 21% rise in profit.

There's been no uplift for the bigger and more UK-company comprised FTSE 250 index which is down 0.18%, continuing the fall from last week.

The pound got a small bump after the 7am inflation announcement, but slid back to $1.268.

It strengthened against the euro, however, and is back up at €1.20.

Escalation in the war in Ukraine caused oil to shoot up by more than $2 since yesterday afternoon and a barrel of Brent crude oil now costs $73.49.

By Nick Martin, people and communities correspondent

A woman casually walks into a convenience store and starts filling a bread crate with goods from one of the aisles.

A shop assistant tries to stop her, but she shrugs him off, undeterred. With the crate now full of items, she leaves without paying.

It is a scenario that is played out day in and day out across Britain, as retailers warn the surge in shoplifting is now "out of control".

I'm sitting in the security office of a busy city centre shop and I'm watching as a schoolboy walks in and helps himself to a sandwich, stuffing it into his jacket.

Watching with me is shop worker Anton Mavroianu who positions himself by the main entrance waiting for the youngster to leave.

When the boy does leave, Anton demands the item back. Instead of being frozen with fear that he's been caught, the boy laughs and walks off.

"All we can do is try to stop them," Anton tells me. "But this is just another day for us."

Read my full reporthere...

There's good news for fans of a prawn cocktail: frozen prawns and mayonnaise are among the top 10 foods with the largest price decreases.

Our data and forensic team has been crunching the numbers from today's inflation figures, to see what individual prices have gone up, and down.

Top five price rises in the last year were...

• Hair gel (150 to 200ml): up 28%, £3.18 to £4.07
• Olive oil (500ml to one litre): up 28%, £7.16 to £9.16
• Carrots (per kg): up 28%, 65p to 83p
• Iceberg lettuce (each): up 23%, 79p to 97p
• White potatoes (per kg): up 19%, 75p to 89p

And the top food price decreases were...

• Pulses (390g to 420g): down 11%, 76p to 68p
• Frozen prawns (per kg): down 9%, £19.04 to £17.42
• Mayonnaise (390g to 500g/420ml to 540ml): down 7%, £2.20 to £2.04
• Pre-prepared mashed potatoes (400g to 650g): down 7%, £1.12 to £1.04
• Canned tomatoes (390g to 400g): down 7%, 71p to 66p

Overall, 147 out of the 444 products in our database are cheaper than they were 12 months ago.

You can see the full inflation calculator below.

UK inflation has risen sharply and is now back above the 2% rate targeted by the Bank of England.

But how does it compare with other major economies?

US annual inflation rose from 2.4% in September to 2.6% last month, while in Germany, there was also a bigger-than-expected jump from 1.8% to 2.4%.

Across the Eurozone, inflation sits at 2%.

France, which boasts a lower inflation rate than both the UK and Germany, also saw a rise from 1.4% to 1.6% in September.

More now from Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who is providing his fuller reaction to news that inflation has risen to 2.3%.

He suggested it was "good news" that inflation was "stable and close to [Labour's] target" of 2%.

He said: "Gone are the days when inflation is 10% or 11% driving family bills through the roof.

"Inflation is stable, it's around target, and the key driver of inflation statistics today is that expected increase in the energy price cap set by the regulator Ofgem.

"But the good news is it's stable, it's close to target, and that will be good for families across the country."

Mr Jones was also asked about fears from retailers that prices will be higher and job losses will become inevitable in the wake of the budget.

"The budget fixed the foundations in this country, it turned the page on economic instability that we saw under the previous government," he said.

Markets had priced in a 22% chance of another base rate cut to 4.5% in December - but this has dropped to 16% following the release of October's inflation data.

Here's a chart showing current expectations - and it's important to stress it shows an implied rate, not an actual one...

Interest rates are kept high to discourage spending and encourage saving - when these things happen, price rises tend to slow.

A cut to 4.75% was announced earlier this month but the Bank of England has been at pains to emphasise the base rate will come down gradually as it monitors the path of inflation.

High street lenders had expected the base rate to come down more quickly - and priced that into their mortgage deals through summer and autumn.

But in the last few weeks the rates they've been offering to borrowers have been rising amid concern that measures announced in the budget - such as the minimum wage hike and an additional national insurance burden for employers - could prove to be inflationary and delay base rate cuts.

The next base rate decision is on 19 December - and there's one more set of inflation data before then.

How worried should we be about rising inflation?

"It's a world away from the double-digit inflation figures we saw at the end of 2022," saysbusiness and economics correspondent Gurpreet Narwan.

"Most forecasters think that over the next few years [inflation] will stabilise at about 2%.

"The question is, 'Is government policy helping the inflationary cause?'"

"The national insurance contribution increases [for employers] might lead to higher prices."

Narwan notes that inflation rising - and expectations it would do so - mean "most of the forecasts for interest rate cuts have also been softened as well".

"The pace of interest rate cuts [will] probably slow and members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee - they're looking at the headline rate of inflation, but they're also looking at some other underlying indicators that are arguably more important than the headline rate - things like services inflation."

As we've reported, these have also risen.

We've had some government response to this morning's inflation data.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: "We know that families across Britain are still struggling with the cost of living.

"That is why the budget last month focused on fixing the foundation of our economy so we can deliver change. That includes boosting the national minimum wage, freezing fuel duty and protecting working people's payslips from higher taxes.

"But we know there is more to do. That is why the government is focused on economic growth and investment so we can make every part of the country better off."

Analysts, and even the Bank of England, have suggested the budget could prove to be inflationary, with fears employers might pass on higher tax and wage costs to consumers.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: "What is worrying about today's announcement is that inflation is running ahead of expectations and official forecasts state these figures are not expected to improve.

"Labour's budget will push up inflation and mortgage rates."

It should be noted that all through this year analysts had forecast another uptick in inflation as winter approached.