Unions call for bank taxes to fund winter fuel discounts as inflation spirals

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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that it is “plain common sense” for Chancellor John Healey to levy the “mega profits” at his Budget next week.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed higher fuel and energy costs driving CPI inflation to 3.5 per cent in September.

Mr Nowak said that households have been paying the price for US president Donald Trump’s illegal war in the Middle East “for far too long.

“And with energy prices set to rise even further, a long and hard winter is looming on the horizon,” he added.

“The prime minister has rightly offered households some breathing space with measures to tackle the cost of living.

“But we need to go further and faster — the Chancellor must put living standards at the centre of next week’s Budget.

“He should start by taxing banks’ mega profits, and use the funds to cut households’ energy bills — it’s plain common sense.”

The rise in inflation from 3.1 per cent in August means it is now at its highest rate in 11 months.

This is above the level that economists had been forecasting for the month and has led to concerns that the Bank of England will hike interest rates next month.

A major driving force of higher inflation last month was motor fuel prices, which rocketed by 30 per cent in the year to September, the latest figures showed.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said that the impact of rising prices is “particularly acute” for its members in the Department for Work and Pensions.

The union is balloting its members for industrial action demanding a 10 per cent pay remit funded outside departmental budgets, a minimum civil service wage of £18 an hour, pay restoration, fair pay progression and protection against future pay erosion.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “They cannot be expected to keep absorbing the cost of this crisis.”

The inflation rate confirmed the state pension will rise in line with wage growth by 3.9 per cent next year.

Under the triple lock mechanism sets the annual rise in April to the highest of inflation, wages, or 2.5 per cent.

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