GRINCH arrived early to steal Christmas with the Bank of England announcing that it was keeping borrowing costs at a 15-year high with no relief in sight.

The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by six to three to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent because of continuing concerns about inflation, further throttling Britian’s no-growth economy.

The decision is a blow to ministers already reeling after Wednesday’s shock news that the economy shrank in October.

Home Secretary James Cleverley had brushed concerns aside, saying “we are cutting interest rates” when, as it turns out, they aren’t.

It could now be spring at the earliest before there can be any easing of the interest-rates pressure, as the Bank views inflationary pressure as worse in Britain than in either the US or the eurozone.

The dissenting three on the MPC, two of them closely linked to finance capital, wanted rates to be increased, even though Bank staff are expecting economic growth to be flat this quarter and for several to come.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey said today that “it’s really too early to start speculating about cutting interest rates. We’ve got to see more progress.”

The Bank is mandated to aim at a target of 2 per cent inflation.  Consumer Price inflation is running at 5.6 per cent on latest figures.

Tax expert Richard Murphy said that “Scrooge is in the counting house for Christmas” and argued that there are “no representatives of working people, mortgage account holders, small businesses or any other interested party” on the MPC.

He added: “Only bankers and those sympathetic to their cause get a look in.

“In the name of democracy, this kleptocracy must go.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, herself kleptocracy-inclined, said: “Working people are still paying the price from the Conservatives’ disastrous mini-budget that crashed the economy and sent interest rates soaring.”

Ms Reeves also claimed that Labour has “a long-term plan to make working people better off” although she again neglected to elaborate.

A Treasury spokesman, however, boasted that “we have turned a corner in our fight against inflation and real wages are rising, but we must keep driving inflation out of the economy to reach our 2 per cent target.”

The government’s core constituency, the stock market, responded positively, with the FTSE 250 index surging 3 per cent on the Bank’s announcement.