Rachel Reeves attends the the Mansion House Financial Services dinner last night.

Rachel Reeves has been given a stark reminder of the problems facing the UK economy, just hours after claiming the government was making Brits better off.

Official figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that inflation unexpectedly rose last month to 3.6% – its highest point in nearly 18 months.

The ONS blamed rising food and transport costs for the rise, which takes the rate of inflation to nearly double the Bank of England’s 2% target.

The grim news was a brutal reality check for the chancellor, who just hours before had been telling the great and the good that Labour was making “progress” on fixing the economy.

Making her annual Mansion House speech, Reeves said: “This evening, I want to talk about the progress we have made over the past year – restoring stability, securing investment and delivering reform.

“And I want to talk about the future – the economy we are building, the opportunities we are seizing and the........

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