Oil prices cut inflation

Falling petrol prices, as the drop in crude oil prices fed into filling station forecourts, helped push down the rate of inflation in October. The headline rate of inflation, widely used by wage negotiators, unexpectedly fell from 3.3% to 3.1%.The underlying inflation rate - which excludes mortgage interest payments - also fell from 2.2% to 2.0%, well below the government's 2.5% target.