The Bank of England’s historic quantitative easing programme is poised to cost the taxpayer £125bn when it is complete, according to updated central bank estimates, prompting calls for the central bank to pause its costly attempt to unwind the policy. In an update on its ‘asset purchase facility’ – the tool the Bank of England uses to buy and sell bonds – officials raised their forecast for the total cost of QE by £10bn to £125bn, meaning the overall cost of the programme could have funded two years of defence spending. [...]