Bank of England interest rate cut joy for mortgage holders as Reeves blames mini-Budget for inflation - live
The Bank of England has decided to cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years
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The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the first time since 2020 as inflation continues to remain steady, holding at their two percent target for two consecutive months.
Bank Rate is currently 5.25per cent, a 16-year high where it has been pegged for the last year to fight inflation, but it has now been set at five percent, a drop of 0.25 percentage points.
Governor Andrew Bailey said the move comes after inflation pressures “eased enough that we’ve been able to cut interest rates today”.
The decision will come as joy for homeowners who have been struggling with rising mortgage payments as major banks have confirmed rates could go down as low as three per cent.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed the move but warned “millions of families are still facing higher mortgage rates after the mini-budget”.
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Reeves welcomes Bank of England interest rates cut
The chancellor has welcomed the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates but warned families are still facing soaring mortgages.
Rachel Reeves said: “While today’s cut in interest rates will be welcome news, millions of families are still facing higher mortgage rates after the mini-budget.
“That is why this government is taking the difficult decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy after years of low growth, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off.”
Breaking: Bank of England cuts interest rates in major boost for mortgage holders
The Bank of England has decided to cut the base rate for the first time since 2020.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has announced the country’s main interest rate is down to 5 per cent from 5.25 per cent in August 2023.
It comes after new economic data suggested the UK’s cost-of-living crisis has eased in recent months thanks to inflation coming off the boil.
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation hit 2% in May and June, which is the central bank’s target level, indicating that price rises have been brought under control.
Economists stressed that other key indicators of inflationary pressure – mainly services inflation and wage rises – have remained a concern for policymakers.
Pound falls as interest rate decision approaches
While we wait the Bank of England to announce the interest rate decision, the pound is still in the red.
The pound is currently down 0.6 per cent or 0.8 of a cent at $1.2775 hitting a four-week low this morning.
Bas Kooijman, CEO and asset manager of DHF Capital, said: “The British Pound is facing pressure as investors await the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision on interest rates, later today.
“Recently, the Pound has weakened, reaching a three-week low and falling against the euro and the dollar. This decline is partly due to expectations that the Bank of England may cut rates. Markets strongly expect the Bank of England to lower rates from 5.25%, which has also contributed to drops in British two-year and five-year bond yields.”
Junior doctors could strike again next year despite pay rise
The head of the junior doctors’ union has suggested there could be fresh strikes next year despite securing a 22 per cent pay deal this week, LBC reports.
Co-chairman of the junior doctors committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) Robert Laurenson claimed the “window of opportunity [for strikes] is about 12 months away” because Labour is in a “honeymoon period”.
The BMA recommended that members should accept Wes Streeting’s offer, which included a pay rise of 4.05 per cent and an increase between 8.8 and 10.3 per cent.
But Mr Laurenson said that the union could consider a “long sustained” strike in the next months.
He said: “Now the last two years the strategy was based on a general election and trying to extract a deal from a desperate chaotic government in decline.
“I think the only way to extract a better deal would be to take long sustained action for probably the next 12 months.”
He added the BMA’s strategy was “based on a general election and trying to extract a deal from a desperate chaotic government in decline.”
The union leader said: “I think the only way to extract a better deal would be to take long sustained action [strikes] for probably the next 12 months.”
Seven Just Stop Oil protesters arrested while trying to disrupt Heathrow Airport
Seven Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested on suspicion of public order offences after blocking the passenger search area at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
The protesters, who tried to disrupt access to the departure gates inside the airport at just before 9am on Thursday, were seen holding signs reading: “Oil Kills” and: “Sign the Treaty”.
Both the Metropolitan Police and Heathrow said minimal disruption was caused, and it is understood the demonstrators were removed within 20 minutes.
Passengers continued to access security lanes either side of where the group sat.
Scotland Yard said: “Seven Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested on suspicion of public order offences after they blocked a passenger search area at Terminal 5, Heathrow.
“Officers swiftly attended and removed the protesters with minimal disruption caused.”
In full: Rachel Reeves confirms taxes will rise in her first budget in October
Taxes will have to rise in October to plug a £22bn hole in the public finances, Rachel Reeves has warned.
Ahead of her first budget, the chancellor refused to rule out hiking capital gains and inheritance tax and pursuing pension reform to fill the gap. And, setting the scene for a brutal financial statement, she said: “I think that we will have to increase taxes in the budget.”
The warning comes after she scrapped a series of infrastructure projects and announced the winter fuel allowance for pensioners would be means-tested in a bid to address the black hole left by the Conservatives.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full report:
Rachel Reeves confirms taxes will rise in her first budget in October
Ahead of her first budget, Rachel Reeves refused to rule out hiking capital gains and inheritance tax and pursuing pension reform to fill the £22bn black hole in the public finances
House of Commons staff offered X-rays after asbestos rules breached
House of Commons chiefs have offered staff X-rays at St Thomas’ Hospital after an asbestos breach, once thought to have affected more than 100 people.
The health and safety watchdog has found “material breaches” of asbestos and construction regulations after a probe into works at the Speaker’s on-site accommodation.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed “appropriate action” has been taken, and a spokesperson for the legislature promised staff would “continue to learn lessons from this event” and use new contractor competency checks to ensure they have the necessary skills and qualifications to carry out works.
The House of Commons spokesperson said: “We fully accept the findings from the Health and Safety Executive.
“Our absolute priority is the safety of the those who work on and visit the Parliamentary Estate, and we are continuing to support those who have been impacted by the incident in autumn 2021.
“Since then, we have taken a number of actions to minimise the risk of any incidents occurring across the many construction and maintenance projects on the estate, including additional training for operatives, new competency checks and the implementation of an updated escalation process for serious safety incidents on the Estate.
“We have also commissioned an independent asbestos specialist to provide support for teams, who has undertaken a thorough review of our asbestos management arrangements.
“We will continue to learn lessons from this event to ensure our safety processes remain robust.”
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Breaking: GPs vote in favour to take industrial action
Family doctors from the British Medical Association have voted in favour to take industrial action.
More than 8,500 family doctors in England cast their vote in the ballot with 98.3 per cent of support to strike.
The BMA union said: “This means, from today, the Association will encourage practices to choose from a list of ten actions, and practices can choose to implement as few or as many as they think appropriate.
“ Actions may include refusing to share patient data unless it’s in the best interests of a patient, referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following longer and more complex NHS processes and switching off NHS software which tries to cut prescribing costs.”
Doctors are asking the government to increase their budget after the Tories raised contracts by only 1.9 per cent in 2024-25.
VOICES: Can ‘Houdini’ Reeves escape her terrifying tax-raising predicament?
With Rachel Reeves’s admission of ‘difficult decisions to come’ in her autumn statement, the walls have started to close in on the hitherto superhero chancellor, writes John Rentoul:
Can ‘Houdini’ Reeves escape her terrifying tax-raising predicament?
With Rachel Reeves’s admission of ‘difficult decisions to come’ in her autumn statement, the walls have started to close in on the hitherto superhero chancellor, writes John Rentoul
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