... and stastics

Here in the UK we have a measure of inflation called the RPI (Retail Price Index). This includes housing costs because ... the vast majority of people don't own their homes outright. It used to be what was used to measure 'inflation'.

In 1997 the government set targets for Inflation using RPIX (which excludes mortgage interest). Almost always RPIX is lower than RPI. In 2003 the government switched to using CPI (Consumer Price Index) which, like RPIX, excludes mortgage interest, but because of a difference in the maths used CPI is normally lower than RPIX.

Twice the government has effective lied to us about inflation. RPI is a better measure for most UK households. Lies, damned lies and inflation statistics - hiding the real fall in living standards for the majority in the UK. We shouldn’t be fooled by this shabby switch.

Ex-Prime Minister's pensions are linked to RPI, so they don’t live by their own rules, and with Director's pay up 50% this year the difference between CPI and RPI doesn’t really matter to a few. We should insist that RPI is used as the more realistic measure.