Rising oil prices may scupper his aim to ease household costs - Richard Pohle/ReutersAndy Burnham's pledge to give people "breathing space" on the cost of living is being derailed by surging oil prices. It threatens to maintain the squeeze on household finances even as the Prime Minister announces a range of measures designed to bring down the cost of living. Beyond pushing up bills, higher oil prices are also constricting the Prime Minister's ability to offer support. The cost of UK government borrowing has risen to its highest level since May as investors bet that a fresh oil price shock will prompt interest rate rises to control inflation. "When talking about things like oil prices – clearly there is very little that the UK Government can do over any reasonable, short-term time horizon to deal with underlying causes."