RISHI SUNAK was accused of rewriting history by claiming it was “great news” that figures today showed CPI had reached the Prime Minister’s target of 2 per cent.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak argued that families have suffered the highest price rises in the G7 over the past three years.

He said inflation has gone up more over that period than it usually does over an entire decade, as new TUC analysis revealed unsecured household debt is set to rise by more than £1,600 this year as families continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.

“Ministers can try to rewrite history all they like,” he said. “But the Conservatives have presided over the worst period for living standards in modern times.

“Food and energy bills have surged. Rents and mortgages have sky-rocketed. And real wages are still worth less than in 2008.”

Separate TUC polling, carried out by YouGov, showed that unsecured debt — loans, credit cards, purchase hire agreements — is on course to increase by 9.4 per cent in real terms, on average, per household this year.

The union federation said that this is the largest annual rise, in cash terms, since records began in 1987, making a mockery of government claims that “their plan is working.”

The consumer price index was last recorded at the 2 per cent target in July 2021.

The latest fall means that prices are still rising across the country, but at a much slower rate than in recent years.

Experts warned that meeting the milestone did not mean an imminent reduction to interest rates from the current 5.25 per cent.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “After 14 years of economic chaos under the Conservatives, working people are worse off.

“Prices have risen in the shops, mortgage bills are higher and taxes are at a 70-year high.”