(Ciaran, just a footnote: I don't know how they figure inflation on the UK side of the water. Here they're big on something called "core" inflation that discounts goods whose prices fluctuate a lot. That's food and energy. Sky high oil prices get discounted because "everyone knows" they'll fluctuate right back down again. When they do, the savings don't necessarily get passed through instantly. When they don't, it's not like you can avoid paying for it. So inflation-adjusted wages or pensions get adjusted to some mythical number that doesn't actually reflect what you or I would call inflation.)