Catherine McKinnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to inflation figures in the euro area, said:

“While in the euro area the inflation rate is falling thanks to lower energy costs, the opposite is true here in the UK. Prices in Britain are rising at a rate almost four times faster than in the euro area and energy bills are soaring, not falling.

“It’s time David Cameron took action to tackle his cost-of-living crisis, which has left working people an average of £1500 a year worse off since he came to office. But instead of helping ordinary families by backing Labour’s plan to freeze energy prices and reform the market, he’s decided to take the side of the energy companies instead.”

Ends

Editor’s notes

1. Figures published by Eurostat today show that the inflation rate in the euro area fell to 0.7 per cent in October 2013 and energy prices have fallen by 1.7 per cent in the year to October: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-31102013-AP/EN/2-31102013-AP-EN.PDF

2. In the UK, CPI inflation is currently 2.7 per cent and RPI is 3.2 per cent. In the year to September 2013, energy costs rose by 7.7 per cent: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_329287.pdf