I had this chat with work when they didn't give us a rise last year, they said, because the RPI had fallen. I checked what the RPI was made up of and found that the things in the "shopping basket" that had fallen in price and contributed to the drop in RPI were (inter alia): hotel accommodation, flights or sailings to holidays, house prices – ie, luxury goods.
Politicans can dress it up any way they like, but the cold hard fact is that I am now working more hours than I ever have yet have less money to spend. As for narrowing the gap between rich and poor, dream on!