Stephen Morgan MP has welcomed Labour’s plans pledging a fiscal lock to protect families from a repeat of the mini-budget, as new analysis shows the number of families at risk of losing their home shot-up 46% as a result of Liz Truss’ mini-budget and soaring mortgages.
The analysis of data collected by the Ministry of Justice reveals that 16,590 mortgage repossession claims took place in 2023, an increase from 11,339 in the previous year. The most recent data from Q4 2023 showed a 77% rise from the same period in 2022.
The revelation comes as the former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss publishes her memoir where she says that the day of the mini-budget was “probably my happiest moment as prime minister,” adding “I was ecstatic.”
It also comes as the Tories continue to make reckless unfunded promises, with Rishi Sunak proposing an unfunded £46 billion tax cut that is bigger than the mini-budget.
The City MP has called out the consequences of the disastrous mini budget which resulted in 7,500 of families in Portsmouth South facing an annual mortgage payment increase of £2,310.
On a visit to meet a family struggling to get a mortgage as a result of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget, Labour’s Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves declared that the next Labour government will “protect family finances and get Britain building.”
Labour has set out plans to get Britain building again, with 1.5 million homes and a generation of new towns to save the dream of homeownership.
Labour will also deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing for a generation, with social and council housing at the heart of Labour’s secure homes plan.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Fourteen years of economic mismanagement and stagnating housebuilding under the Conservatives has been laid bare.
”It is not the fault of homeowners in Portsmouth that the Tories crashed the economy and sent mortgage bills soaring, and yet they’re the ones paying the price. Rishi Sunak’s £46 billion unfunded tax cut is the last thing that mortgage holders in this country need.
“Under Labour, Portsmouth people can be assured their finances will be protected. Our fiscal lock will prevent “reckless and unfunded spending pledges” such as the mini-budget and the Government’s commitment to abolish national insurance contribution.”
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, said:
“Families across Britain have been put at risk of losing their home because of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget. Yet while those households are having sleepless nights and living pay-day to pay-day, the former Prime Minister responsible is parading around the world on some kind of twisted victory lap.
“The Tories may have got the country into this mess, but Labour will not allow reckless economic experiments to jeopardise the dream of home ownership.
“Labour will stand up for homeowners with a fiscal lock to bring back economic responsibility, protect family finances and get Britain building. We will deliver the biggest boost of affordable housing for a generation with social and council housing at the heart of Labour’s secure homes plan.”
The city MP has taken urgent and extensive action to lobby the Government to tackle the cost-of-living crisis facing Portsmouth people, including raising concerns to Ministers on the parliamentary floor, launching a campaign to cut energy bills and lower the cap, as well as hosting a cost-of-living themed Cuppa and Chat to enable constituent access to financial advice.
