MP who felt 'terror' over mortgage payments accuses Tories of 'lack of empathy'

12 July 2023 , 12:12

815     0

MP who felt 'terror' over mortgage payments accuses Tories of 'lack of empathy'

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has been accused of a "complete lack of empathy" over the mortgage crisis facing millions of Brits.

SNP MP Anne McLaughlin blasted the top Tory as she told MPs she never wanted people to feel the "terror" she experienced after she struggled paying her own bills before joining the Commons.

Speaking at PMQs on Wednesday, she said: "The day I had to phone my bank and tell them I was having difficulty paying my mortgage was one that has lived with me for years."

The MP for Glasgow North East said she was not eligible to switch to an interest-only mortgage due to her low income at the time, adding: "I never want my constituents to feel the terror and abandonment I felt that day."

Addressing Mr Dowden, who was stepping in for Rishi Sunak for a second week in a row, the MP said he had shown a "complete lack of empathy" in his responses.

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

Glasgow North East MP Anne McLaughlin (Garry F McHarg Daily Record)

She added: "I do welcome the temporary measures but they are temporary. This is a mortgage crisis that has been two years in the making. Does the Prime Minister and himself really think they are going to fix it in 12 months?"

Mr Dowden highlighted support available for mortgage holders, saying: "Of course it's deeply, deeply disturbing, and worrying for anyone to contemplate losing their home."

The exchange came after Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner used the session to attack the Government over the "Tory mortgage bombshell".

Earlier the Bank of England, which last month raised interest rates for the 13th time in a row, warned there "will be consequences" for higher borrowing costs.

Nearly one million mortgage holders could see their monthly repayments increase by £500 or more over the next three years, as economists expect rates to rise even further.

The average household will see their monthly interest payments go up by about £220 if they remortgage during the second half of this year, based on their mortgage rate going up by about 3.25 percentage points, the Bank said.

Nearly a million people could see repayments soar by more than £500 a month by the end of 2026.

Ms Rayner - standing in for Keir Starmer while Mr Sunak is at the Nato summit in Lithuania - said: "Mr Speaker, I know you are a keen historian so I looked up the last time a Prime Minister missed two sessions in a row with other engagements, which was March 1996.

"I am very proud to be filling the boots of Lord John Prescott, but I think it is safe to say he is no Heseltine.

"Why is it, John Prescott asked, that in Tory Britain, tens of thousands of families are facing repossession, negative equity and homelessness? Can he tell us, 27 years later, why I am having to ask the same question?"

Richard 'shuts up' GMB guest who says Hancock 'deserved' being called 'd***head'

* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.

Ashley Cowburn