The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the central bank’s rate-setting body, voted 6–3 on September 16, 2026, to leave Bank Rate at 3.75%, matching market expectations. Three members wanted a 25-basis-point increase to 4%. The MPC said prolonged conflict in the Middle East had lifted crude and refined energy prices and increased volatility, helping push UK CPI inflation to 3.1% in August, with further rises expected in coming quarters. It said policy must bring inflation sustainably back to the 2% target while officials assess the scale and duration of the energy shock. Evidence of significant second-round effects, meaning broader wage and price increases after an initial shock, remains limited, but the risk could grow if energy costs stay high. Separately, the MPC unanimously agreed to reduce its government bond holdings to zero through a multiyear programme, running them down at an average annual pace of £46 billion through 2034.