Soaring prices risk sparking riots across Britain, warns French bank Business

The cost of living crisis risks triggering a wave of riots in Britain because its economy is one of the most fragile in Europe, a French investment bank has warned.

L’Atelier BNP Paribas said there is a danger of “social unrest, protests and extremism” after the UK ranked 35th out of 36 countries for its ability to offer higher wages, lower costs lower and social mobility.

Only Latvia fared worse, with Spain, Greece and Lithuania making up the rest of the bottom five.

It came after the Office for Budget Responsibility warned UK households faced the biggest drop in living standards on record, with inflation at its highest level in 30 years and rising taxes.

BNP’s sustainable economic barometer attempts to measure countries on their ability to stimulate social mobility by fairly distributing the fruits of their economic growth.

The UK’s poor score “indicates a reduced ability to facilitate social mobility and is a strong indicator of future socio-economic protests and instability”, the report said.

He pointed to rampant inflation, wage increases that cannot keep up with the rising cost of living, and record high housing and rent prices.