ABS Head of Prices Statistics Michelle Marquardt has discussed with Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood why volatile items like fruits, vegetables, fuel and travel were excluded from May inflation.

“Things like fruit and veg, and fuel and travel, can all be affected by things like seasonal factors,” Ms Marquardt.

“For instance, if there’s a flood, they can make food prices go sky high, we’ve seen things like the invasion in Ukraine impact fuel and travel particularly in the monthly goes up and down every month.

“It’s just a way of looking at inflation without those sort of impacts on it to see what’s actually going on underlying the CPI headline.”