As an economics editor, I spend one day every quarter under lock and key

The control freakery over can be infuriating, but none of us should be relaxed about the risk of private profiteering from public information

In case you were under the impression that the life of an economics journalist is all canapes, conferences and cosy chats with experts, allow me disabuse you. Sometimes we get locked up.

That’s right: once every three months we’re led to a room deep underground. We must surrender our mobile phones. And once the door closes we’re not allowed to leave – even if nature calls. For two long hours.

This draconian procedure is part of the Bank of England’s Inflation Report “lock-in”. Once inside a room deep in the bank’s vaults (tantalisingly close to where they keep the country’s gold reserves) we’re handed a document. It contains the latest interest rate decision of the bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, taken earlier that day, plus Threadneedle Street’s updated economic forecasts. Some officials brief us on the contents and then we’re permitted to type up a report on laptops, all while stuck in the same room.