Interest rates live: Bank of England expected to hold in first vote of 2026 after inflation rises

Today you’ll see variations of the same thing: what we typically call the interest rate. Officially it’s the Bank Rate (the rate the Bank of England sets) and it’s what the BoE itself calls the “core interest rate”.

You might also see the term “base rate”, which again is the same thing: all other banks and building societies base their rates off the bank rate.

So here’s how we got to 3.75 per cent over the past few years:

Note the quarterly reductions over the past year and a half, bringing us down from the high of 5.25 per cent.

Good morning all and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the run-up to the Bank of England’s first interest rates vote of 2026.

We had four cuts last year, bringing the base rate down to 3.75 per cent – good news for those renewing their mortgage deals after a couple of years at much higher levels, but not such good news for savers seeking higher returns on their cash.

All the details coming up, plus the reaction after the vote itself.