Bank of England divided over timing of interest rate cuts amid fears inflation is creeping higher

A BATTLE is brewing within the Bank of England as the nine people who decide Brits’ borrowing costs are at odds over the timing of interest rate cuts.

The Bank yesterday held interest rates at 4.75 per cent amid rising fears that inflation is creeping higher again.

Records show that there was a surprising split in the ranks — with six members voting to keep them steady and three wanting to relieve pressure on the economy by lowering them.

Money markets now reckon there is a 70 per cent chance of rates being lowered to 4.50 per cent at the Bank’s next meeting in February.

However, traders think there may also only be two or three rate cuts next year.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “We’re seeing Scrooge-like policy returning from central banks, who remain cautious about inflationary risks.”

The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 slumped, while interest on 10-year government bonds rose to 4.58 per cent.

The Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, said that there was “heightened uncertainty in the economy”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also been blamed by some for stoking inflation with her £24billion hike in National Insurance bills.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

THE Chancellor’s line of “improving living standards” seems increasingly tone-deaf as the Bank dampened its growth forecasts yesterday.

Rachel Reeves needs to remember her claims about protecting working people’s pay only ring true if they still have a job.

Businesses say they will have to cut jobs and raise prices after her Budget.

That will only hit living standards.

TITANIC YARD SAFE

UP to 1,000 jobs have been saved at Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff after a government-backed rescue deal with Navantia.

The Spanish state-owned firm is buying H&W’s shipyard in Belfast, where its giant yellow cranes — nicknamed Samson and Goliath — dominate the city’s skyline.

Terms of the deal, which also includes sites in Scotland and Devon, have not been disclosed but reports earlier this week suggested it was around £70million.

Jobs are guaranteed in Belfast for three years and two years in the three other yards in return for a three-ship Royal Navy deal.

Jonathan Reynolds, Business and Trade Secretary, said it “guarantees our sovereign shipbuilding capability to bolster our Navy.”

£21M FOR HOME BY HARRODS

A HOME in the UK’s priciest street will now set you back £21million, new analysis by Lloyds has shown.

Knightsbridge, which counts posh department store Harrods as the shop on the corner, is ranked higher than anywhere else in the country.

The property hotspot in west London displaced last year’s most expensive area — Grosvenor Square, Westminster, which is in the heart of the capital’s Mayfair district.

With the average UK house price now at £356,925 based on Land Registry numbers, the most expensive properties in the country now cost almost 60 times more than a typical British home.

Outside of London, homes in East Road in Weybridge, Surrey, are ranked the most expensive with the average home costing £8million.

Wales has the most affordable properties in the UK — but homes on the most expensive street still cost £1.3 million.

P DIDDY’S VODKA IN SELL-OFF

GORDON’S gin and Baileys maker Diageo is exploring a sale of Cîroc Vodka, the spirit once backed by P Diddy.

The talks come after Diageo settled a legal battle with the music mogul, legal name Sean Combs, when he accused the firm of racism in its alleged neglect of his vodka and tequila brands.

He dismissed his lawsuits in January “without prejudice” and cut ties with the brands.

Since then Diddy has had a staggering fall from grace after being arrested in September on charges of sex trafficking.

Diageo, meanwhile, has been struggling to revive sales in China and Latin America, while huge sales of Guinness have led to shortages in some pubs across the UK in the middle of the Christmas party season.

A Diageo spokesperson declined to comment on reports by Bloomberg that it had started contacting potential buyers of Ciroc.

CAR production fell by almost a third in November, the ninth month in a row of shrinking vehicle volumes.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that 64,216 cars rolled off factory lines, 27,711 fewer than at the same time last year.

£650 FOR FCA FAILS

THE City watchdog is making its biggest ever collective compensation payout after delays in stopping a fraudulent lender.

The FCA said it will give 300 investors in peer-to-peer lender Collateral an apology and £650 compensation for “not acting promptly”.

It comes more than a year after brothers Peter and Andrew Currie were jailed for fraud and money laundering.

Administrators found £11million of £17.9million in customer loans would not be recovered.

TAKEOVER BIDS SET FOR 2025

AROUND a third of British firms on London’s junior stock market are vulnerable to a takeover next year, analysts claim.

It comes after a record one in 20 of all UK listed companies faced a public takeover approach this year as the pace of dealmaking ramps up.

The findings add to worries about the shrinking value of the UK’s stock market.

This is amid concerns about a lack of liquidity, depressed valuations and the difficulty in raising cash in the UK.

Big takeover approaches have included the £3.6billion by Aviva for Direct Line and BHP’s failed £41billion bid for Anglo American.

Michael Nicholson, of investment bank Peel Hunt, said: “It seems certain that 2025 will bring a major and sustained flow of UK takeovers.”