Let me explain. The Committee, which contains a mix of Bank of England personnel including governor Mervyn King plus outside economists are instructed by Chancellor Alistair Darling to deliver the official measure of UK inflation at a rate he (and Gordon Brown before him) has set at 2 per cent.

The MPC is allowed a 1 per cent margin either side of the central rate or else the Governor has to write an open letter of explanation. The only tool the MPC has to achieve this goal is the power to alter interest rates by majority voting.

With inflation hitting 3.3 per cent last month (yes, you and I know it's higher but that's the official calculation), the Governor sent what will probably be the first of a series of letters to No.11.

If inflation were truly the MPC's only concern then a majority of its members should have voted for a quarter-point hike to 5.25 per cent instead of no-change in the cost of borrowing at its meeting last Thursday. But with the British economy teetering on the brink of recession any further rise would almost certainly send it over the edge.

A decision by the Treasury to change the function of the MPC to include a direct responsibility to protect economic growth in the UK in addition to fighting inflation should be written into the rules. This would end the continual conflict between the doves on the MPC who are worried about jobs and growth and the hawks who are focused on combating inflation.

It is likely that when the minutes of last week's meeting are published in a fortnight we will see a three-way split with a majority voting for no-change, at least one opting for a 0.25 per cent cut, and others wanting an increase by the same amount. It hardly smacks of joined-up monetary prowess.