MPC member says investors should prepare for UK rate rise

Interest rates in the UK could rise as early as August in response to a tightening labour market, according to Monetary Policy Committee member Martin Weale.

Weale (pictured), one of the MPC's most hawkish members who has sat on the committee since 2010, said the Bank needs to respond to rising wages and low unemployment, regardless of low oil prices. He previously voted for a rate rise late last year alongside fellow member Ian McCafferty, but has reversed his stance since then as oil prices fell sharply, which he said gave the MPC "breathing space". Speaking to the Financial Times, Weale said: "If you had asked me last autumn how rapidly I thought wages might pick up, looking at the most recent numbers, the movement seems to have been a ...