UK interest rates held, plus could Musk fund reform?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2024

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Bank of England have voted to hold UK interest rates at 4.75%. The Spectator's economics editor Kate Andrews joins Katy Balls and Freddy Gray to discuss the decision and what this means for the UK economy.

Also on the podcast they discuss how a potential donation from Elon Musk to Reform UK has rattled politicians across the political spectrum. Could Labour seek to reform political donation rules to limit donations from foreign owned companies? And is this a sensible move, or could those in favour of changing the rules face a charge of hypocrisy?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You can get three months of The Spectator for just £15, plus a free bottle of Paul Roger champagne
0:05.5	if you go to spectator.com.uk forward slash phys24. This offer is UK-only and subject to Coffee House Shots,
0:25.4	the Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast.
0:27.8	We are going to be winding down slightly soon for the Christmas break.
0:31.9	And I'm delighted to be joined by Kate Andrews and none other than Freddie Gray,
0:36.5	who's graced of his presence from
0:38.2	the Americano podcast. Thanks, Freddie. Yep, special Christmas treat for you. Such a treat.
0:44.4	Now, Kate, before we get on to Elon Musk, Labor donation rules and what might happen,
0:50.4	we've had some news on rates. Can you talk us through? Well, this is not a Christmas treat. I'm sorry to say. The Bank of England has decided to hold rates at 4.75% rather than opt for another small cut, which would have taken the base rate down to about 4.5%. I must say this is not surprising. After the labor market data we got
1:12.2	this week showing that wages are up, and after the inflation update we got this week, showing that
1:17.2	inflation is slightly higher than the bank and others had predicted it would be at this point
1:21.5	in the cycle, it was very, very likely that the bank was going to hold the base rate. And it was also likely
1:29.9	because they did a small interest rate cut in November. And the bank has been very clear throughout
1:35.2	this whole process since they started cutting rates that it's going to be a slow and steady one.
1:41.1	Not the best news for those who have mortgages, not the best news for the country and certainly
1:48.6	not the best news for the government, which is desperate to see the space rate go down, not least
1:53.7	because as we talked about on the podcast yesterday, borrowing costs are higher than anticipated.
1:58.9	Rachel Reeves's budget is more expensive than anticipated.
2:02.9	The UK is spending tens of billions of pounds just servicing the debt.
2:06.9	They really need this headline figure to go down.
2:09.1	And no easy break when it comes to those looking to renew mortgages next year at the moment.
2:13.6	No easy break.
	...

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