Brits battered by soaring prices in 'awful April': Inflation surges to 3.5% - far higher than expected - in huge blow to Reeves as BoE warns on interest rate cuts
UK inflation surged to its highest level for more than a year last month after households were hit by a raft of 'awful April' bill increases, official figures have revealed.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation hit 3.5% in April, up from 2.6% in March and the highest since January 2024.
Economists had been expecting a rise to 3.3% last month.
Cabinet minister Steve Reed acknowledged the rise in inflation was 'disappointing' - while Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride blamed Rachel Reeves for the hike in inflation.
It comes after Ofgem 's energy price cap rose by 6.4% in April, having fallen a year earlier, alongside a raft of bill rises for under-pressure households, including steep increases to water charges, council tax, mobile and broadband tariffs.
ONS acting director-general Grant Fitzner said: 'Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply.
'Gas and electricity bills rose this month compared with sharp falls at the same time last year due to changes to the Ofgem energy price cap.
'Water and sewerage bills also rose strongly this year, as did vehicle excise duty, which all pushed the headline rate up to its highest level since the beginning of last year.'
Cabinet minister Steve Reed acknowledged the rise in inflation was 'disappointing'.
The Environment Secretary told Times Radio: 'I recognise these are disappointing figures. I know how much people are struggling with the cost of living crisis, but no one said that this problem could be fixed overnight.
'And I think you have to look at these figures in the round, we've brought double-digit inflation way down now.
'We're stabilising the economy. We're putting money back in people's pockets with an increase in the minimum wage that puts £1,400-a-year into the pockets of some of the lowest paid.
'We've seen fuel duty frozen. We've had four interest rate cuts in a row now, and for the first quarter of this year, we now have the fastest growth in the G7 so there's a lot of positive information out there as well.'
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride blamed Rachel Reeves for the hike in inflation.
He said: 'This morning's news that inflation is up - and now well above the 2% target - is worrying for families.
'We left Labour with inflation bang on target, but Labour's economic mismanagement is pushing up the cost of living for families - on top of the £3,500 hit to households from the Chancellor's damaging jobs tax.
'Higher inflation could also mean interest rates stay higher for longer, hitting family finances hard.
'Families are paying the price for the Labour Chancellor's choices.'
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: 'I am disappointed with these figures because I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people.
'We are a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous administration, but I'm determined that we go further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.
'That's why we have increased the minimum wage for millions of working people, frozen fuel duty to protect commuters and struck three trade deals in the past two weeks that will go towards cutting bills.'
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Stevenage, 26-28 Queensway, Stevenage, SG1 1BS, 7/10/2025 45. Stratford-upon-Avon, 31 Rother Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 6ZS, 8/10/2025 46. Sudbury, 32 Market Hill, Sudbury, CO10 2EN, 30/9/2025 47. Torquay, 108 Union Street, Torquay, TQ2 5PH, 3/9/2025 48. Trowbridge, 62 Fore Street, Trowbridge, BA14 8EX, 16/10/2025 49. Wellingborough, 40 Market Street, Wellingborough, NN8 1AD, 7/10/2025 50. Wickford, 63 High Street, Wickford, SS12 9AH, 18/9/2025 51. Wisbech, 1 Market Place, Wisbech, PE13 1DT, 1/9/2025 52. Yate, 3-5 North Walk, Bristol, BS37 4AG, 25/9/2025 53. (MOBILE) Prestatyn, Lower High Street Car Park, Prestatyn, LL19 9LG, 29/9/2025 54. (MOBILE) Abergele, Tesco Car Park, Abergele, LL22 7AA, 29/9/2025 55. (MOBILE) Welshpool, Tesco Welshpool Car Park, Welshpool, SY21 7BL, 29/9/2025 The three mobile branches being scrapped also affect rural and hard-to-reach communities who rely on them to manage their money without travelling long distances. 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Customers are being forgotten, writes The Sun's Head of Consumer, Tara Evans. With branches closing and online banking taking over, customers can be left feeling cut off. We wrote about forgotten customers back in July on our Sun Money pages in our weekly newspaper section. People like David Elkins, 82, a retired service engineer from Calne, Wilts, who saw his HSBC branch close in 2023 and had to travel ten miles to the next nearest. He has a kidney issue and needs frequent dialysis, making it impractical. Banking hubs are emerging as a solution to address the gaps left by widespread closures - but there are not enough of them. There are plans for 146 of these, but so far there are only 60. You can use one of the Post Office's 11,635 branches to perform basic banking tasks, but they don't allow you to open or close accounts for example. 2
