Up to now the growth in part-time work has helped to depress wages. But the balance of its analysis – as well as evidence from elsewhere – reveals that cutting interest rates would be an extremely foolish strategy right now. Like most City analysts, the Bank still believes inflation will be higher than the Government’s 2.5 per cent target in two years’ time.But it is its analysis of the labour market which makes most sober reading. Bruised by Barings and afraid of the uncharted territory in which Governor and Chancellor consistently disagree, the Bank may appear cautious about coming to too many strong public conclusions. And in this latest report the Bank has backed off its previous claim that its own inflation forecast was more likely to be an underestimate than an overestimate.So what is our problem? Business and homeowners would appreciate a cut Everyone’s in favour – let’s do it Er, no actually, says the Bank of England.

We have heard no more from Eddie George about interest rate rises since his embarrassing defeat at the Chancellor’s hands in June. The majority of the Treasury wise men believe interest rates could be cut a little in the next few months without too much risk for inflation. After all, wages are still growing surprisingly slowly and companies have such large stockpiles that they may temporarily slow down production.
If not explicitly endorsing these views, the Bank of England appears at first view to have dropped its fierce opposition. Unsustainable tax cuts may not be the only pre-election sweetener the lucky British electorate is about to be offered. If yesterday’s Bank of England’s inflation report is taken at face value, inflationary dangers appear to be receding. So expect Tory activists to argue that if tax cuts are not enough to win round a sceptical electorate, Ken Clarke could always bring interest rates down, too They must be resisted. Their desire for a feel-good boom runs contrary to the economic analysis buried deep within the Bank of England’s report and, if acted upon, would seriously jeopardise the low-inflationary recovery Britain has so far managed to achieve.

The trouble is that it is not just the politicians who want relief – economic voices for interest rate cuts are growing, too. The statistics have come in very handy in geography and I’m using it in other subjects, too.”Some of my relations who’ve seen my maths work books say how much more organised it all is now, how you have to put down all these explanations of what you’ve done My mum says it’s much harder than when she did O- level.”. “I’ve enjoyed maths more since I came to Redborne because I’m beginning to understand it Because I didn’t understand it before, I didn’t like it It’s more interesting now I can relate it to situations. “I think we could do all those complicated computations if we had to but we tend not to because there are alternatives to doing it.”Louise Wilson, 15, is taking 11 GCSEs next year She is not in the top maths set but hopes to get a B. He thinks older people look down on his generation for using calculators. I couldn’t walk round Tesco like she does working out what the percentage savings on things are as quickly as she can.”But I wouldn’t enjoy maths if we had to do loads of arithmetic. I’d just lose interest.”James Dean, 16, is taking maths, further maths, physics and chemistry at A-level He got a starred A at GCSE.

“I can work things out in my head rather than using a calculator, but not as efficiently. None the less, she thinks her mum is probably better at mental arithmetic than she is. They are not allowed to use calculators, though,” she says.Alexandra Cadman, 16, who got a starred A in GCSE maths, is taking maths, economics, English and biology at A-level. “I could do it even though I hadn’t been to any of the lessons where it had been explained. “He’s at Cambridge and he’s not having any problems,” she says.As for students abroad who are supposed to be better at maths than British ones, Mellissa Bellerby, 17, who is taking maths, further maths, French and Spanish at A-level, thinks French students of the same age are behind.”I’ve just been on an exchange to France and the maths was easier,” she says.