ONLY a Tory millionaire who “cannot possibly know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of unemployment, wage decreases and housing insecurity” could be comfortable with the thought of another recession, ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said today.

The Islington North MP joined figures across the labour movement to condemn Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who has insisted he would be content with the Bank of England risking yet another downturn by hiking interest rates – as long as it killed inflation.

In a Sky News interview which evoked the cruellest excesses of the Thatcher era, Mr Hunt claimed the “only path to sustainable growth” is to bring down the high prices behind the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Despite analysis from Unite the union that CPI inflation – which has only just dipped below 10 per cent for the first time since last August – is being fuelled largely by “rampant corporate profiteering,” the bank has set the base interest rate at 4.5 per cent.

The rises, which are likely to continue in months to come, have hit renters, mortgage payers and millions who are in debt, while doing nothing to check the excessive power of the country’s biggest firms. 

Asked if he was comfortable with the widely criticised approach, Mr Hunt said: “Yes, because in the end inflation is a source of instability.

“If we want to have prosperity, to grow the economy, to reduce the risk of recession, we have to support the Bank of England in the difficult decisions that they take.”

But Mr Corbyn told the Morning Star: “Anyone who is ‘comfortable’ with a recession cannot possibly know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the resultant unemployment, wage decreases and housing insecurity.

“Instead of making ordinary people pay for a crisis they did not create, the Tories should get a grip and tackle the root causes of inflation – corporate profiteering and greed.”

The veteran socialist, who turned 74 today, demanded a “clear economic alternative that taxes the rich, gives workers an inflation-busting pay rise and brings vital services into public ownership.”

“Hitting ordinary people in the pocket yet again is never a price worth paying,” ex-shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon warned.

The Leeds East MP told the Star: “To help get inflation and the cost of living down, the government needs to actually tackle ‘greedflation’ – grotesque profiteering by big companies has pushed prices of essentials up during this crisis.

“We need government to act through measures like price caps on staple foods, rent controls and taking rip off water and energy companies into public ownership.

“The reason more and more people support these policies is because they’re necessary.”

Most opinion polls suggest the vast majority of Brits support nationalisation of key utilities, such as water, rail and mail.

Green Party finance and economy spokeswoman Molly Scott Cato called for an end to a strategy “rooted in misguided ideology and Tory unfairness.

“It’s easy for a millionaire Chancellor to advocate pushing people into losing their jobs because failed Tory economic policies cannot deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

“However, it is totally unacceptable for people on the receiving end of falling wages and rising prices to be told that they are the problem.

“An effective and compassionate Chancellor would be looking for ways to support the economy without fuelling inflation. The most obvious would be to pay public-sector workers in line with inflation, which would barely add to inflation.  

“This could be funded by taxing the super-rich, whose consumption does contribute to inflation.”