BRITAIN is now involved in what feels like it is an economic experiment to see if the policies of the 20th Century can work in the 21st Century world where Covid has hit growth and Vladimir Putin has sent energy prices soaring.

Yesterday in this column, we highlighted how small independent businesses from Durham to Richmond – two of our more prosperous areas – have given up the ghost because of the economy. Then came news the Wilko’s – after the demise of Woolies one of the last big bargain chains on the high street – is on the brink.

And came news of a 14th consecutive hike in interest rates.

The idea of raising rates is to take money out of the economy, to stop people spending and to stop them adding to inflation. But at some point we reach a tipping point, where the medicine begins to poison the economy – and with our businesses dying, it feels like we are reaching that point.

The right-wing thinktank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, said yesterday: “The UK economy is like a frog slowly being cooked by ever higher interest rates. By raising the temperature further now, the Bank risks doing too much and, once again, only realising its mistake when it is too late.

The little guys are the ones who will see their jobs go, their small businesses close and their high streets become even more empty. They just have to pray that the big bankers really do know what they are doing when they continually use the blunt instrument of rate rises to smash the sticky nut of inflation.