Mr Bailey said the Bank would ‘act forcefully’ if it saw signs of inflation embedded in the economy. ‘A 50 basis point increase will be among the choices on the table when we next meet,’ he added.

 

It came as Nadhim Zahawi last night vowed to seize Brexit opportunities.

 

In his first official speech as Chancellor at London’s Mansion House, he said a law, introduced today, to reform EU insurance rules will ‘unleash growth across our financial services sector and will allow us to unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment’.

 

Mr Bailey went on to say the UK economy had experienced an ‘almost unprecedented’ series of shocks over the last two-and-a-half years as it was buffeted by the onset of Covid-19, supply chain disruptions caused by the end of lockdown restrictions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and difficulties faced by British businesses trying to recruit workers.