Steph McGovern

Robert, what's your take on it?

It's always the low-income households that are the most exposed when inflation goes up, particularly food prices and energy prices, because that's where they spend more of their income on essentials.

So this again will hit...

the poorest, hardest.

And as you say, that point, I kind of slightly whooped when I saw this in Andrew Bailey's, obviously the governor of the Bank of England's comments.

He said about what's happening now, there is nothing monetary policy can do to stop the

cost increases.

And I was like, yes, you've just admitted it.

I mean, I know in the longer term it can, but in this moment, if you put up rates, you would just hammer people more and it wouldn't bring down energy prices.

I know there's an argument of in the longer term, it might make a difference, but it just feels like it's that the people are hit unfairly when they're trying to control inflation.

Yeah.

And it's just worth reminding people, I think as well, what the Bank of England, as you say, trying to figure out is what happens, but they're working with completely unknown parameters because as we've seen, the volatility with oil is still happening.

There was meant to be this ceasefire.

This has come under strain because just this week, the US and Iran have exchanged fire in this Strait of Hormuz that we keep talking about how important it is.

The US had promised to help ships get

through as part of this project freedom, but are answering anyone who tries to get through will be attacked.

And they keep, you know, this sense of, okay, with the ceasefire, could things possibly go back to normal?

No, because no one, you know, it's just impossible to predict what's going to happen next.

And just, I was with last week, some of the guys who run from the Middle East who run various businesses, they're pretty big ones.

So including the lads who run