THE Tories are putting Britain “on road to recession,” trade union leaders warned today as the nation is forecast to have the highest inflation of any major economy this year.

Latest data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that inflation eased unexpectedly last month, with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 6.7 per cent.

This was down from 6.8 per cent in July and the lowest rate since February last year.

Yet the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rate increased to 9.1 per cent in August, up from 9 per cent in July.

It comes as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecast that Britain’s economy is set to witness the highest inflation rate of any G7 advanced economy.

The OECD said it expects Britain’s inflation to be 7.2 per cent in 2023, which would be the fastest rate across the G7 and the third fastest across the G20.

The Bank of England was previously expected to raise interest rates to 5.5 per cent tomorrow, up from the current level of 5.25 per cent, as it had predicted inflation to accelerate last month to 7.1 per cent.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt welcomed the surprise fall in inflation, calling it a sign that the government’s plan to halve inflation was working.

But TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that the Tories’ economic approach of “doing nothing and hoping for the best” is putting Britain “on road to recession.”

“It’s high time this government delivered a credible plan to get our economy growing and deliver rising living standards and decent well-paid jobs across the country,” he said.

“The Conservatives have yet to produce one despite being in office for the past 13 years.”

On the Bank’s interest rate decision, Mr Nowak added that a halt to rises is “long overdue” and warned that pushing figures “so high that the economy is driven into recession will only make the current crisis worse, costing people their jobs and their homes.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham echoed the warning, saying that the Bank and “their cheerleaders in Westminster” must accept that the threat of inflation comes from firms boosting their profit margins and not workers fighting to protect their living standards.

“It is time for our politicians to finally act against this flagrant profiteering and start taxing excess profits,” she said.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Conservatives have “wreaked havoc” and working people are paying the price.