Labour seize housing agenda over rate rises, leasehold U-turn and axed targets

It’s expected that the Bank of England will raise interest rates today for the 12th time in a row as part of their ongoing push to lower Britain’s inflation rate. This means higher mortgage repayments for hundreds of thousands of home-owners at a time when almost three-quarters of a million households missed rent or mortgage payments last month.

Labour has put the blame for the rise squarely at the door of No 10 Downing Street, with Rachel Reeves saying: “The Prime Minister should take his fingers out of his ears and admit his personal responsibility for a Tory mortgage crisis leaving so many worse off.” Asserting that “Liz Truss simply came and lit the fuse”, the Shadow Chancellor targeted Rishi Sunak’s record, saying he had “trapped our economy in a cycle of low growth and high taxes, while tickling the tummies of unfunded, trickle-down tax extremists in his party”.

Also angry at the government this morning (and, let’s face it, most mornings) is Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy, who has been taking Michael Gove to task over reports that the government will drop its commitments on leasehold reform. Nandy said the reports were indicative of a “department in chaos” and a “Housing Secretary that has lost control”. Interestingly, Nandy echoed Reeves’ hit on Tory backbenchers with a line about the government caving to them on housing targets. It suggests Labour sees political capital in painting a significant portion of Sunak’s parliamentary majority as (as a senior ally of David Cameronmemorably put it) mad, swivel-eyed loons.

In Wales, Plaid Cymru is down a leader following the resignation of Adam Price. Price stepped aside following a stinging review which found evidence of bullying, misogyny and harassment in the party he has led since 2018. Given Labour faces fresh questions over a POLITICO story yesterday on how it apparently handled a sexual harassment allegation, gloating in the Labour ranks over the fate of Price (something of a Marmite figure) will hopefully be kept to a minimum. A Labour spokesperson said any misconduct complaints were taken “very seriously” and “fully investigated”.

And finally, the breaking news this morning is the government’s decisionto bring the TransPennine express into state control after years of dire service. Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the government had “finally accepted they can no longer defend the indefensible”, before stressing: “The next Labour government will bring our railways back into public ownership…. we will end the Tories’ failing system, putting the public back at the heart of our rail network.” Sounds great!