6.66% is a road to hell
Mortgage costs soaring to a 15-year high are crippling home buyers, when the rate on a two-year fixed deal has surpassed even the peak in the aftermath of the Tory disaster that was Liz Truss.
The average 6.66 per cent rate is stinging in part because the Bank of England, with the backing of Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, is hiking interest rates to curb inflation.
People fixing deals now typically face a repayments rise of about £350 a month. Little comfort was offered by bank and building society bosses quizzed by MPs.
Financial institutions largely maximise their own profits – and unless we have a Prime Minister in Downing Street prepared to stand up for ordinary people, the pain will sadly get worse before it improves.
Playing it safe
Military conflict between NATO members and nuclear-armed Russia would be potentially cataclysmic.
So the decision not to guarantee war-torn Ukraine membership with a firm timeframe is eminently sensible.
Our own and other NATO countries are providing the bulk of the advanced weapons used by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces against Vladimir Putin’s invaders.
Kyiv accepts it cannot join NATO while at war with Russia. It’s understandable that Zelensky wants to join as soon as possible after fighting ends, but we don’t know when that will be or what the terms will be.
Setting a date now could be an incentive for Putin to prolong the bloodshed.
It is better to wait and see.
Not just tickets
Every train station ticket office contains at least one helpful member of staff to navigate your way to the cheapest prices, correct times of services and best routes.
The campaign to save them is a national fight for a railway that serves the elderly, disabled, frail and confused passengers – rather than only those with latest mobile phones.
