Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Bim Afolami

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to help support homeowners with mortgages.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)]

As the House knows, the path to lower interest rates is through lower inflation, which is why the Government are fully committed to supporting the Bank of England to get inflation back down to its 2% target. If mortgage borrowers fall into financial difficulty, our mortgage charter, which covers about 90% of the market, includes new flexibilities to help customers manage their repayments, on top of the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules on how lenders must treat borrowers.

[Mr Robertson]

Given that a lot of mortgage payers are suffering because of the rapid hike in interest rates, will the Government continue to talk to the Bank of England and mortgage lenders to see what can be done to bring interest rates down? That would help most people.

[Bim Afolami]

I completely agree on the absolute need to drive mortgage rates down, which is why we are supporting the Bank of England’s independent remit to bring interest rates down. We are also ensuring that we do not do things to make inflation worse, such as adding £28 billion to Government borrowing, which would increase inflation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Bim Afolami

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Bim Afolami]

I thank the hon. Member for his question, which is incredibly important. As he knows, this Government are absolutely committed to ensuring that jobs in the defence sector, within an ESG framework, are protected. I am happy to meet him to discuss further the issues relating to his constituency and Northern Ireland.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

9. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of inflation on the ability of graduates to repay student loans.