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The Bank of England has opted to keep the base rate at 4.25% as most economists had expected. 

Six rate setters voted to keep the rate the same, while three wanted to cut it by 0.25 percentage points to 4%. 

Rising food prices and the risk of an oil price surge due to tensions in the Middle East have put pressure on the Bank not to make cuts too quickly.

The interest rate used as a tool to put a lid on unruly inflation, and both of those factors, along with global economic uncertainty, risk pushing inflation even higher. 

Rising food prices have been putting pressure on overall inflation recently, with the latest data released yesterday showing food and non-alcoholic drink prices rose by 4.4% in the year to May.

This was the highest level in more than a year, with items such as ice cream, coffee, cheese and meat spiking last month.

Overall inflation is at 3.4% - way above the Bank's 2% target. 

Over the past few weeks, we have also seen oil and natural gas costs rising in the double digits. 

Follow along as we tell you what it means for mortgages and savings... 

Hundreds of thousands of households may have been spared serious disruption to their heating or hot water after the government delayed the switch-off of an old energy meter system. 

The Radio Teleswitch Service was due to be instantly turned off on 30 June, but concerns were raised that more than 300,000 households could be left without a functioning meter.  

Industry regulator Ofgem said this could cause heating and hot water left continually on or off, electric storage heaters charging at the wrong time of day, possibly leading to higher bills. 

The service will now be turned off gradually, with a "managed and more controlled start" at the end of the month. 

What is RTS and why does it need to be turned off? 

The RTS system uses a long wave radio frequency to switch between peak and off-peak rates.

It can also be used to turn hot water and heating on and off. 

The technology has been used since the 1980s, and is becoming obsolete - meaning the equipment that produces the radio signal can't be maintained. 

Energy companies had a deadline to change their customers' meters by 30 June, but many have admitted that they have not been able to upgrade the technology quick enough. 

In most cases, the system has been replaced with a smart meter. 

How to check if you have an RTS meter

Trade association Energy UK has a list of things to look out for if you are unsure whether or not you have an RTS meter. 

• There may be a separate switch box near your meter with a Radio Teleswitch label on it.
• Your property is heated using electricity or storage heaters.
• There is no gas supply to your area. This includes households in rural areas and high-rise flats.
• You get cheaper energy at different times of day. Your tariff might be Economy 7, Economy 10 or Total Heat Total Control.

If you're unsure if you have RTS equipment, contact your electricity supplier, who will be able to confirm for you.

American Express is reportedly changing the minimum income requirements for three of its credit cards. 

Customers will now need to earn at least 拢15,000 in order to be eligible for the British Airways American Express, American Express Rewards and the Amex Cashback Everyday credit cards - down from 拢20,000, according to Head for Points and This Is Money. 

The move could help part-time workers or pensioners qualify for the cards. 

American Express considers income to be your personal annual pre-tax income, which can include wages and savings. 

Money has contacted American Express for comment. 

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter 

A bit of a blow if you're planning on a trip to the United States.

The pound has lost more than two cents against the dollar in just a week.

It means your pound will not go as far when spending across the pond - but it's good news for importers.

Why has this happened?

The answer is in three stages.

The US currency has taken a bit of a hammering this year as a result of Donald Trump's trade war.

Sterling had been trading at $1.27 ahead of the president's so-called "liberation day" tariff barrage - and the dollar had been under pressure - a most unusual scenario for the world's reserve currency - until last Friday.

There's been a bit of a rush for so-called safe haven assets since Israel's military campaign against Iran began.

The dollar strengthening intensified yesterday evening after the US central bank kept interest rates on hold.

The chair of the Federal Reserve Jay Powell hinted there was unlikely to be cuts in the near term because the bank remained worried about tariff-linked inflation ahead and the potential for an energy price shock arising from the evolving Israel-Iran conflict.

The pound was trading just below $1.34 early on Thursday. It had been above $1.36 last Friday.

Elsewhere, that closely watched Brent crude oil price has ticked up to $77 a barrel today - a rise of almost 1%.

Traders cited evidence that Iranian nuclear facilities had been hit in an Israeli bombardment.

You can expect Brent to leap ahead if Mr Trump decides on direct US involvement in Israel's campaign.

The FTSE 100 has opened 0.4% lower at 8,809 despite upwards pressure from major oil stocks BP and Shell. They are benefiting from that price hike.

We hear from the Bank of England at midday.

The rate-setting committee is widely expected to make no change to Bank rate and we can probably expect similar remarks to those of Mr Powell - essentially a message that the Bank is closely watching the potential for a new energy-led inflation spike.

Another 2.7 million households will be given a 拢150 discount on their energy bills this winter.

This brings the number of households eligible for the warm home discount up to just over six million, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said. 

The changes remove some restrictions on eligibility and mean every bill payer on means-tested benefits will qualify.

It comes after the government reinstated the winter fuel payment to the majority of pensioners in a major U-turn. 

Sir Keir Starmer said: "I know families are still struggling with the cost of living, and I know the fear that comes with not being able to afford your next bill.

"I have no doubt that, like rolling out free school meals, breakfast clubs and childcare support, extending this 拢150 energy bills support to millions more families will make a real difference."

How does the discount work?

If you're eligible, your electricity supplier will apply the discount to your bill. The money is not paid to you.

This usually happens automatically - but if not, you can contact your supplier. 

You can't check if you are eligible for the scheme yet, but you will be able to from October by using . 

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter 

The latest Bank of England interest rate decision is revealed at midday today.

We may not hear the word "cut" but we will certainly be told about "uncertainty".

Let me apologise, right now, for the number of times you are about to read that last word. There's a theme here.

The Monetary Policy Committee is widely expected to make no change to Bank rate from its current 4.25% level.

The message from the majority of rate-setters has been of a gradual approach to reductions in the cost of borrowing this year, largely because of trade war-related (sorry) uncertainty.

Last month we heard about "rising uncertainty" and "a lot more uncertainty" and, given events in the Middle East, that message could well be repeated (I won't say it) given the threats the Israel-Iran conflict pose to inflation.

Oil and natural gas costs have seen double-digit percentage increases over the past few weeks, raising the possibility of another energy-led price shock ahead.

Data yesterday also showed that the headline rate of inflation remains stubbornly above target at 3.4%.

But providing a boost towards the rate cut cause are inflation figures showing, when the effects of volatile elements such as energy and food are stripped out, price growth is coming down nicely.

Services inflation was particularly encouraging.

Employment figures last week also showed the pace of wage growth continuing to ease and the unemployment rate rising.

So, there are hopes we could get a rate cut in the coming months.

LSEG data shows financial market investors are expecting two more by the year's end, probably taking Bank rate to 3.75%.

However, with Donald Trump in the White House and the threat of events in the Middle East expanding, the minutes of the MPC meeting will reflect even greater caution on the outlook.

You can be certain of that.

A single ticket-holder from Ireland has won the 鈧�250m EuroMillions jackpot, the Irish National Lottery said.

Ireland's lottery said it was the "biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot," and its chief executive said it would reveal the winning location soon.

The winning numbers from Tuesday's draw - which had rolled over several times - were 13, 22, 23, 44 and 49, with lucky stars 3 and 5.

The EuroMillions jackpot is capped once it reaches 250 million euros - or 拢208m.

Ticket reselling site StubHub International has threatened to leave the UK if a proposed cap on prices comes into force.

The company's chief executive Bob Kupbens told the : "Our investors wouldn't allow us to burn money if we didn't think there was a viable business here. 

"Under a policy landscape where a price cap was implemented, StubHub International would be unable to offer our...  guarantee or sustain our levels of customer service. As such, we would be forced to cease our UK operations." 

The government is considering options to clamp down on ticket touts, including only allowing tickets to be resold at their original price or for a maximum of 30% profit. 

Restricting the number of tickets resellers can list to the maximum they are allowed to purchase on the primary market is another option being considered.

The proposed changes come after concert sales for artists including Taylor Swift and Oasis were marred by professional touts reselling at heavily inflated prices.

The UK competition watchdog said in March that Ticketmaster may have broken consumer protection law in the way it sold more than 900,000 to the band's reunion tour last year.

In good news for potential home buyers with a small deposit, three lenders have cut rates on some of their high loan-to-value mortgages. 

Santander lowered all two and five year fixed rate deals at 85% to 90% LTV by as much as 0.15% for first time buyers. 

A five-year fix at 95% LTV has been reduced by 0.22% to 4.85% with no fee and 拢250 cashback. 

Across its residential home mover products for new build, most options at 85-95% LTV, fixed for two or five years, have also been cut by up to 0.12%.

Clydesdale Bank made similar changes, reducing selected two and five year rates at 90% to 95% LTV by up to 0.2%. 

It also cut its two-year purchase exclusive rate at 95% LTV by up to 0.23%.

A number of residential two and five-year professional and newly qualified rates at 85-95% LTV have been reduced by as much as 0.25%. 

Is the cost of living crisis over?

If you're looking purely at the annual inflation data, the numbers us journalists, not to mention politicians and economists, tend to focus on, the answer might seem like: probably, yes.

Sure, the rate is, at 3.4% in May, higher than the Bank of England's 2% target. But it's far below the double-digit peaks experienced in 2022. Plus, the Bank itself thinks prices are likely to drop back down towards 2% in the coming year or two, even assuming a few more interest rate cuts. End of story, right?

Well, not quite. Because look a bit deeper into the numbers and you notice a couple of important things.

The first is that whether the cost of living squeeze is over really depends on how you slice up the numbers.

Look in a slightly different way and actually this is still an ongoing crisis for millions of families around the country.

An ongoing crisis

To see what I mean, recall that when economists talk about inflation, they are really referring to something quite specific. The rate at which the average level of prices across the economy (actually, it's a shopping basket of representative goods) has changed over the past year.

And the change in that level over the past year is indeed 3.4%. But look back a bit further, say the past four years, and the rate of change is 25%.

Why looking back makes sense

Both of these numbers are accurate. They are both expressions of inflation, except that one is for a single year and the other is for a four-year period. But when you're going to the supermarket, or buying a big ticket item like a computer or a car, are you really thinking back over a 12-month horizon or, perhaps, thinking back further?

For a lot of people, that four-year horizon feels much more representative of their everyday lives and retail decisions than the one-year horizon. True: the fact that it's up 25% is largely because of the enormous rise in prices in 2022 amid the energy price shock and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But (and one can't emphasise this enough), it's not like prices went up and then went down. The prices went up and stayed up (in fact, they carried on getting more expensive).

And when you look at the four-year, "recent memory" rate of inflation, it's higher in recent months than any period going back to the early 1990s.

Now, economists have very good reasons for focusing on the annual rate of inflation. But by the same token, you can see why so many people scoff when they see the latest inflation data, finding it bears little resemblance to their lived experience. The problem isn't so much the data itself but the way we focus on an annual rate.