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Commenting on the latest inflation figures published by the Office for National Statistics, which show RPI inflation falling to 4.6 per cent in September, CPI remaining unchanged at 3.1 per cent and the Rossi index staying at 4.8 per cent, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Millions of people will today learn the cost of the bombshell buried in the Budget small print - the insidious switch in benefit rises from RPI to CPI.?

'People receiving carers allowance and bereavement benefit will find their benefits 1.4 per cent lower than they would have been, while those struggling to find work will have their dole rise cut by 1.6 per cent.

'A typical occupational pensioner with £100 a week will get £1.50 a week less than they would have done under RPI indexation. That's not a huge amount, but a similar cut every year soon makes a big difference.

'Despite supposedly being all in this together, the Government has singled out carers, widows, the unemployed and pensioners to be permanent victims of their policies - losing a bit more each year long after the coalition's target date for eliminating the deficit.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The benefit and pension increases mentioned in the TUC statement are all uprated according to September's inflation figures.

- The Emergency Budget switched the indexing of several benefit rises from RPI and the Rossi Index to CPI.

- A TUC briefing on the changes to social security and tax credits contained in the Emergency Budget is available from the press office.

- Further information on the differences between the RPI and CPI measures of inflation is available at www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/cpi-rpi-information-note.pdf

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk