Tory leadership candidate Sunak says inflation, not tax cuts, are priority

"I think our number one economic priority is to tackle inflation and not make it worse," Sunak told BBC radio on Thursday.

British former finance minister Rishi Sunak said his first economic priority if he becomes prime minister will be tackling high inflation, not the tax cuts pledged by some of his rivals in the race to replace Boris Johnson.

British consumer price inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May, and the Bank of England forecasts it will exceed 11% in October when regulated household energy tariffs increase next.