Steph McGovern

Like with energy, you can't suddenly make us able to produce all the energy we need.

So that's what I mean about as things stand in the short term, you need to help people.

So isn't it the right thing to try and do something that helps the symptoms of it while you in the longer term look to change energy policy and housing policy?

Paul, one of the other difficult things is obviously trying to predict

what impact everything that's happening with the US and the Iran war will have on us.

And there's lots of analysis being done now about whether the Bank of England should be thinking about putting up rates to try and control inflation.

But then on the other hand, one of the things Robert and I have been talking about is whether actually inflation longer term might

go down because the demand will fall.

People won't have as much money and perhaps wages won't be able to keep up with it either.

And so therefore the effect might be not, yes, okay, inflation in the short term, but not a massive rise in the longer term.

And by doing anything with rates, by not cutting them or by putting them up, that might make things worse.

What's your take on what the fallout is going to be from all of this?

So on that then, Paul, we've got an interview we've done with Jeremy Hunt that's coming out in our next episode, of course, former chancellor.

And one of the things he was saying happens when something geopolitical like this occurs is the UK often gets the hardest deal from the commentators.

So they will often be harder on us in terms of our forecast for things like growth and inflation.

And actually, he's saying that's often unfair that that happens because, you know, we've seen the headlines already about where the country most likely to face the biggest impact from what's happening with the Iran war and everything in the Middle East.

What's your take on that?

Do you think that's fair that the commentators are too quick to throw us under the bus?

But when these indicators come out, it then becomes a vicious cycle, doesn't it?

Because then the markets react to those indicators.