THE TUC has called for “profit restraint” from companies and pay rises to “protect spending and avoid recession” as food and energy prices increase amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Britain’s rate of inflation has surged to a fresh 40-year high at 9.4 per cent, Office for National Statistics data revealed today.

Unions have highlighted a gap between the rate of inflation at 11.8 per cent RPI (retail price index) and pay rises like those the government announced for workers in the public sector on Tuesday which were below the inflation rate.