Rachel Reeves’ defence of her economic record took a hilarious turn today when she appeared on Sky News speaking in a comically high-pitched voice.
An unfortunate technical error saw the under-fire chancellor discussing the rise in inflation to 3.5 per cent in tones more akin to Mickey Mouse.
And the blunder certainly seemed to confuse presenter Wilfred Frost – son of Sir David – as he said he thought there was a ‘problem with the sound again’.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Reeves said: ‘The numbers today are clearly disappointing. We want to see inflation coming down after the cost of living challenges that people have been through these last few years.’
Her voice was then silenced entirely with the audience left guessing what she had to say as broadcast bosses apparently realised the mistake.
Mr Frost was lost for words for a good few seconds as he looked at the camera with a gaping mouth.
Switching back to reality, he then said: ‘I think we’ve got a problem there with the sound again.’
Many viewers have since taken to social media to make jibes at the error, comparing the rise in Ms Reeves’ voice to Labour party policies which have caused ‘ballooning national debt’.
Speaking to Sky News , Ms Reeves said: ‘The numbers today are clearly disappointing. We want to see inflation coming down after the cost of living challenges that people have been through these last few years’
Her voice was then silenced entirely with the audience left guessing what she had to say as broadcast bosses apparently realised the mistake
Someone said on X ‘there’s the ballooning debt for you’ while another joked ‘further, faster and higher’.
It comes amid today’s news that UK inflation surged to its highest level for more than a year in ‘Awful April’ after households were hit by a raft of bill increases.
The headline CPI rate was up from 2.6 per cent in March to 3.5 per cent last month, a peak not seen since January 2024.
Worryingly, it was significantly more than the 3.3 per cent analysts had pencilled in, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledging the figures were ‘disappointing’. Core CPI – excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco – was also at the highest for a year.
The grim data will fuel Bank of England concerns about underling pressures, with chief economist Huw Pill having already warned that interest rate cuts have been too fast.
Experts immediately suggested that Threadneedle Street might pause reductions at the next monetary policy committee meeting next month. The Bank had forecast that inflation would top out at 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of the year.
The spike comes after Ofgem’s energy price cap rose by 6.4 per cent in April, having fallen a year earlier.
That was alongside a raft of bill rises for struggling households, including steep increases to water charges, council tax, mobile and broadband tariffs.
Meanwhile, Labour’s national insurance and minimum wage increases will have been stoking pressure in the system.
