DUP and UUP clash over Stormont return after ‘grim’ economic news and Bank of England interest rate hike

Homeowners are facing the biggest single shock on their mortgage bills in over three decades, with the Bank’s base rate rising to 3% from 2.25%, after eight consecutive hikes with more on the horizon.

Both the DUP and UUP are warning of tough times amid soaring energy bills, food prices and the cost of other essentials.

But the two parties have offered sharply contrasting positions on whether the return of Stormont could help ease the burden being placed on families.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson, speaking to the News Letter, said: “A lot of people will be worried about their mortgage, especially since many people will be changing their mortgage from a fixed rate to whatever the new rate is going to be.

"This is going to have a huge impact on spending power which will, in turn, have an impact on the wider economy because shops, leisure and everything else will be affected by people having less to spend.

"Now, we have to put this in perspective because it's not going to affect the majority of the population - over half of householders don't have a mortgage. Over 30% of people rent their homes, and many older people have already paid their mortgage off.

"There's going to be an uneven distribution of the pain. And we're going to have tax increases as well. The Chancellor has made this clear.”

Asked if there was anything Stormont could do to alleviate the difficulties faced by Northern Ireland families, Mr Wilson said: “There is not, and anybody who suggests there is are charlatans. They are taking advantage of people’s fears. Stormont is going to face this storm as well. If the government cuts back on spending, as it says it will, and doesn’t allow inflationary increases in spending then the block grant is affected and Stormont is going to have less money in real terms to spend.

"The Finance Minister [Conor Murphy, who has left his post along with all other Stormont ministers] has already said he has a whole in the budget of 600-odd million pounds. So Stormont are not going to have any resources – they have a hole to fill already."

The former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt, however, said the “grim” economic news should act as a wake-up call to those preventing the restoration of power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.

In a statement, the party’s economy spokesperson said: “Today’s economic news and forecast can only be described as grim and should come as a wakeup call to local parties of the need to get Stormont back up and running to do whatever we can to help ameliorate the dire economic situation that is developing.

“We must also factor in the that some financial analysts have predicted rates could reach 4.75% next year and the Bank of England has warned that the UK would face a ‘very challenging’ two-year slump with unemployment nearly doubling by 2025 and the longest downturn since records began in the 1920s.”