By Andy Bruce and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England raised interest rates to 0.5% on Thursday and nearly half its policymakers wanted a bigger increase to contain rampant price pressures, which the British central bank warned would push inflation above 7%. In a surprise split decision, four of the nine Monetary Policy Committee members wanted to raise rates to 0.75% in what would have been the biggest increase in borrowing costs since the BoE became operationally independent 25 years ago. But a slim majority, including Governor Andrew Bailey, voted for a 0.25 percentage poi…