The following draft is submitted for pre-Congress discussion by Peter Ford.
We note the role of calamitous decisions by the Bank of England over more than a decade in causing and perpetuating the cost of living crisis, notably its failure to predict a rapid rise in inflation coming out of the covid crisis, originating in large part from the longstanding Bank-approved policy of Quantatitive Easing, and to raise interest rates in a timely, measured and effective manner. The Bank persists in keeping interest rates high, ignoring not only the suffering this causes to working families but also the backfiring impact on businesses who raise prices to compensate for higher borrowing costs.
We further note that it is undemocratic and unacceptable for decisions over key areas of state activity to be handed over to unelected, unaccountable technocratic elites, represented not only by the Bank of England but numerous quangos such as the Climate Change Committee.
We resolve that the WPB will campaign for bringing back from the Bank of England control over setting interest rates and for curbing the influence of the Climate Change Committee.
The author welcomes feedback prior to submission of a final draft for the Congress deadline. Comments section is on (below), or email info@workerspartybritain.org
Surely the main of recent inflation is the Ukraine war and the sanctions against Russia; Europe has cut itself off from cheap Russian gas, leading to an enormous increase in the price of energy (household energy bills are twice what they were before the war). Since energy costs are present in the production of all commodities, all prices have risen. This situation can’t improve until good relations with Russia are reestablished (and the North Sea pipeline brought back into circulation.)
Quantitative easing causes short term price increases.
That said, it would probably be better if austerity governments couldn’t hide behind a supposedly independent Bank of England.