MPC member calls for rise in interest rates

A member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has called for a rise in interest rates for the first time in almost two years.

Andrew Sentance voted to lift rates to 0.75% from their record low of 0.5%, due to stubborn inflation, minutes show. It was the first call for a UK rate rise by an MPC member since August 2008, and will surprise economists, who expected another unanimous decision. The other MPC members called for rates to be held at its June meeting. A seven-to-one majority ensured rates were kept at 0.5% for the fifteenth month in a row. The Bank also decided not to expand quantitative easing (QE) further. Inflation hit a 17-month high of 3.7% in April, and though it fell back to 3.4% in May it...