Ordinary people are much more concerned about whether they can keep their housing payments up than Boris Johnson
Former Cabinet minister and Liz Truss supporter Sir Simon Clarke pointed out that current gilt pricesSir Simon unwittingly made the Opposition’s case for it: that no matter which Tory PM is in charge, the mortgage misery keeps on coming. Central to all the jitters is the UK’s stubbornly high “core” inflation, prompting fears the Bank of England will have to keep on increasing interest rates for months to come. As years of low mortgage rates become a thing of the past, that leaves lots of families facing increases of hundreds of pounds in their monthly mortgage bill.
Rishi Sunak has compounded the problem by declaring that it is “on me personally” if his target of halving inflation this year is not met. Not on the Bank, on him. New figures showing wages are higher, normally a good thing for a Government, add further to expectations of higher inflation and interest rates.
And although Johnson’s Privileges Committee comeuppance may still dominate the news for some time, many ordinary people are much more concerned about whether they can keep their housing payments up. Mortgage repossession, not the Tory “succession”, is their primary focus. . But his reply to Olney – “I am sure that residents in Mid Bedfordshire have welcomed the stability that we have brought to the economy and the fact that we have supported householders through the past two difficult years” – reeked of complacency.