Hand gel and tracksuits, virus changes our shopping baskets
HAND sanitisers, casual clothes and dumbbells have been added to the basket of goods used to determine the level of inflation each year.
But white chocolate and ground coffee have been removed in favour of Maltesers and coffee sachets.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which decides what items go into the basket, said there had been a surge in spending on products to help people get through lockdowns.
With formal officewear left in the wardrobe as workers stay at home, the new basket includes men’s tracksuits and women’s sweatshirts. And the closure of gyms has led to the inclusion of dumbbells and watches that track exercise.
Hand sanitiser – a niche product at the end of 2019 – had become a household staple within weeks of Covid-19 arriving in the UK early last year.
Inflation is calculated by monitoring smart monthly changes to the cost of an array of goods and services.
Sam Beckett, from the ONS, said: “The pandemic has impacted on our behaviour as consumers, and this has been reflected in the 2021 inflation basket of goods.
“The need for hygiene on the go
GHISLAINE Maxwell is married and was living with her stepchildren when she was arrested by the FBI, her brother has said.
Ian Maxwell, 64, revealed the details as he launched a robust defence of his youngest sibling.
Scott Borgerson, 44, is long rumoured to have married Ms Maxwell, but it had not been confirmed by her or her family. The US tech millionaire has a son, 13, and a daughter, 10, with his former wife.
Ms Maxwell, 59, is in jail in New York awaiting trial on charges she recruited underage girls for the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to abuse. She has denied all the allegations.
Ian said: “Ghislaine was married, with stepchildren, getting on with her life and then, bang. She was not running from law enforcement.
“Suddenly he [Epstein] dies and they’ve got this really serious problem. She’s a patsy for Jeffrey Epstein who they lost on their watch and they are taking it out on my sister and that’s wrong.
“She is not Epstein. She deserves to be treated as Ghislaine, presumed innocent.”
Speaking yesterday on Good Morning America, he said the last time he spoke to her was in June 2020 a month before her arrest, when they along with their five other siblings were together in London. Their father was the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell. has seen the addition of hand sanitiser, while lockdown living has seen demand for home exercise equipment rise, while spending more time within our own four walls has also encouraged us to invest in smart technologies.”
In total 17 items were removed, 10 were added and 729 were left unchanged. Additions include wifi bulbs, and hybrid and electric cars.
Axminster and Wilton carpets were removed. The annual inflation rate measured by the consumer price index is 0.7 per cent. The Government’s target is two per cent.