Britain | Bread and circuses

Britain’s inflation rate is not falling fast enough

It remained stuck in double digits in March. Why?

2PHEFAC Bread aisle, tesco, ashford, kent, uk
Image: Alamy

Bread and circuses offered a path to social peace, according to Juvenal, a Roman satirist. Britain’s latest inflation data, published on April 19th and covering the year up to the end of March, would have given him cause for concern. Surging costs for food and recreation have kept the annual rate of price growth in double figures.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Bread and circuses”

From the April 22nd 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

Crew members during the commissioning of HMS Prince of Wales

Has the Royal Navy become too timid?

A new paper examines how its culture has changed

A pedestrian walks across the town square in Stevenage

A plan to reorganise local government in England runs into opposition

Turkeys vote against Christmas


David Lammy, Britain’s foreign secretary

David Lammy’s plan to shake up Britain’s Foreign Office

Diplomats will be tasked with growing the economy and cutting migration


Britain’s government has spooked markets and riled businesses

Tax rises were inevitable. Such a shaky start was not

Labour’s credibility trap

Who can believe Rachel Reeves?