Inflation business illustration

The then Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King makes a stand against inflation

Throughout the 1980s tackling price rises was seen as the economic prioroty by the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher they followed a tight Monetarist economic agenda that sought to hold price rises down through control of the money supply. This and other policies had a very negative effect on the employment market as the number of unemployed passed three million for the first time. As the pace of rises began to slow and it appeared under control the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont (in the John Major, Conservative government) notoriously conceded that mass unemployment was 'a price worth paying' a statement he was much criticised for making.