Inf lation falls to 2.4% (so much for Project Fear’s dossier of doom!)

PRICES are rising at the slowest pace for more than a year in a boost to millions of families, official figures showed yesterday.

In yet another sign that the economy is in rude health ahead of Brexit, the Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of inflation fell from 2.5 per cent in March to 2.4 per cent in April.

That was the lowest level since March last year and down from a post-referendum peak of 3.1 per cent in November.

Inflation has risen by far less than feared since the Brexit vote and now appears to be heading back towards the 2 per cent target, easing pressure on family finances. In the ‘dossier of doom’ published two years ago, then chancellor George Osborne warned that a Brexit vote would push inflation towards 5 per cent this year.

Instead, it is only a little above the 2 per cent rate the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast for 2018 had the country voted to remain in the EU.

Brexit supporters branded the Project Fear warnings issued by Mr Osborne and other Remain campaigners ‘ridiculous and outrageous’.

With inflation now falling and wages rising at the fastest pace for more than three years, analysts said ‘things are looking up for UK households’.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said: ‘Good news on inflation – it fell to 2.4 per cent in April and is expected to keep falling. With wages going up that means more money in people’s pockets.’

However, it is feared that the rising oil price may keep inflation above the 2 per cent target for longer than hoped as the cost of petrol and diesel increases.

The latest ONS figures follow a string of reports showing employment at a record high, unemployment at a 43-year low and government borrowing at the lowest level for 16 years.

The flurry of upbeat news makes a mockery of doom-laden warnings that the Brexit vote would crash the economy.

Before the referendum, Mr Osborne warned of an ‘immediate and profound shock to our economy’ that would plunge the economy into recession, put as many as 820,000 out of work and result in government borrowing of almost £78billion this year.

Instead, the economy has grown for seven quarters in a row since the referendum, employment has risen by 609,000, unemployment has fallen from 4.9 per cent to 4.2 per cent, and borrowing was around half what Mr Osborne claimed it might be.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘As time progresses, people are seeing just how ridiculous and outrageous Project Fear was.

‘There must be many people who voted Remain who now regret it who were intimidated by the prophets of doom and gloom about the risks of a Brexit vote. Those warnings were completely unfounded.’