The independence of the Monetary Policy Committee has two dimensions. The first is that the entire Committee, and process of setting monetary policy, is independent from the government. This is a corner-stone of credible policy making, which ensures that the public have faith that it is free of political interference. Secondly, individual members must themselves be independent, and articulate their own interpretations and assessment of the current economic situation and its implications. They should not limit themselves to expressing a single MPC view.

Taking the Committee as a whole, its collective independence was enshrined in the monetary policy framework set up in 1997 by the newly elected Labour government.