Sunak faces election call if he fails to hit his target on inflation

RISHI Sunak has faced calls to trigger a general election if he fails to hit his inflation reduction target.

The Prime Minister was described in the Commons as “literally the worst person” to be leading the country through a cost-of-living crisis because he “created it”.

Mr Sunak sought to brush off the attacks from the Labour benches during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, and criticised the Opposition’s plans for the economy, insisting he is “making difficult and tough decisions”.

He has previously pledged to halve the rate of inflation by the end of the year.

The Bank of England last week raised interest rates – adding to the mortgage misery for many – in a bid to tackle inflation, which has stuck at 8.7%.

Rhondda MP and Labour former minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “The Prime Minister has had responsibility for the UK economy now for 1,323 days and he’s delivered... He’s delivered the largest national peacetime debt ever, the largest tax burden since the Second World War, the highest core inflation since 1991, the fastest interest-rate rises since 1989 and the biggest fall in living standards in our history.

“So will he stop lecturing my constituents about holding their nerve, ditch the lame excuses and admit that he is literally the worst person to be leading this country through a cost-of-living crisis because he created it?”

Mr Sunak, in his reply, said: “What do we hear from the party opposite? Only ideas that would make the situation far worse.”

He said Sir Chris has “sat there and supported” plans from Labour to borrow more money, claimed “unaffordable” union pay demands would “make the situation worse”, adding: “And (Sir Chris) has sat there and supported plans to not exploit our domestic sources of energy, imperilling our energy security.

“Those are all things that would make not just the situation worse for British families today, but for years into the future.”

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts said: “The Prime Minister’s solution to inflation is to push families into poverty while letting corporate profits pile up.

“The IMF (International Monetary Fund) said this week that the way to cut inflation is for companies to cut their profit margins.”