Prices are stable and, without the war, would be rising steadily at the central bank’s 2% target. They also fear that workers will see another rise in inflation coming and pitch for a major increase in wages. Services companies – for so long after the pandemic a source of rising prices – have managed to restrict increases this year. Once prices begin to rise again, workers and companies are bound to react, they argue, embedding inflationary pressures into the UK economy even if the Middle East war is settled. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said this week that the UK had already lost the equivalent of £28bn in growth this year as a result of the Middle East conflict.