The UK inflation rate unexpectedly fell slightly to 2.5 per cent in December in a surprise boost to embattled Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed a slight drop from 2.6 per cent in November and fell below City forecasts.

It comes amid record government borrowing and falls in the pound over the past week.

How does this all fit into the wider economic outlook, what might it signal for our shopping baskets - and what about the spectre of ‘stagflation’?

The Standard podcast is joined by Jo Michell, professor of economics at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

In part two, influencer Adam McIntyre on concerns about the financial impact of a TikTok ban on digital creators and small business ahead of a US supreme court decision on the Chinese ByteDance-owned app’s future in the States mid data security concerns.

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