Britain is ‘still paying the price’ for Liz Truss’ budget a year on amid falling house prices
A year after the former prime minister’s “mini-Budget”, Pat Macfadyen, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, warned that Rishi Sunak “may want to forget all about it – but voters never will”.
Britain is “still paying the price” for Liz Truss’s suicidal Budget, Labor has warned after the housing market saw its worst decline since the credit crisis.
A year after the former prime minister’s “mini-budget”, Pat Macfadyen, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, warned that Rishi Sunak “may want to forget it all – but voters never will”. It comes after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that rising mortgage rates have led to the worst housing market in 14 years.
Their survey also reported the lowest level of sales since the Covid-19 pandemic effectively shut down the housing market. “Anarchy has consequences,” McFadden wrote to The Mirror. “It could have been bad at the best of times, but to cause this pain just as workers find themselves in a cost-of-living crisis is inexcusable.”
Mortgage approvals have fallen by a third, house values have fallen by 5% and average monthly mortgage payments have risen by £220 in the past year. Meanwhile, a separate report from Zoopla noted that rental affordability is at its worst in more than a decade, with costs increasing by 10.5% in the past 12 months.
Mr McFadden added: “Sitting at the top of the chaos is Rishi Sunak: Britain’s ‘unpractical man’ prime minister.” Too weak to stand up to these conservative factions. I always wonder which side to choose. And the failure to solve the country’s growing list of problems.”
Chaos has consequences
Written by Pat Macfadyen, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
It has been a year since the Tories trashed the British economy.
Conservatives, intoxicated by their delusions of unfunded tax cuts for the rich, behaved like a gambler in a late-night casino, except with your money and your future they were gambling. They used the country to conduct a giant experiment, and the British people are still paying the price.
A year later, families across the country are still reeling from the effects of rising mortgages, rents and interest rates. The Conservatives described it as a “mini-budget,” but it was nothing of the sort.
Mortgage rates rose. Pensions were on the verge of collapse. Confidence in the United Kingdom as a stable economy has been shaken. To this day, every mortgage or lease renewal comes with a premium of hundreds of pounds per month. This bonus is the bill for the Conservative Party’s recklessness. Chaos has consequences. The chopping and changing of prime ministers and chancellors, the infighting between factions, has all hit the British people in the pocket.
It could have been bad at the best of times, but causing this pain at a time when workers found themselves facing a cost-of-living crisis is inexcusable. The Prime Minister and Chancellor would like to pretend it was all just a bad dream and never mention it again. They may want to forget it all, but voters never will.
Because in the real world, mortgage approvals are down by a third since last year. 5% of the value of homes in Britain has been wiped off. The average monthly mortgage payment is £220. And rents are rising.
Even after all this, Liz Truss’s supporters are planning a comeback, claiming – incredibly – that she was right all along. Sitting at the top of the chaos is Rishi Sunak: Britain’s “unmoved man” prime minister.
Too weak to stand up to these conservative factions. I always wonder which side to choose. And failure to solve the country’s growing list of problems. After a decade of harmful tax increases, spending cuts, and failure to grow the economy, they want – once again – to put their party above the state.
That is why the upcoming elections will be a real choice. With the Conservatives: more chaos and instability, more pain for working people. Or with a changed Labor Party: a party that would bring stability and security and finally begin to build a better Britain. The selection can’t come soon enough.
