A quick, capsule review of the Queen’s Speech debate in the Commons: Cameron was at his rapier-like best, while Brown performed his typical dodge-the-question act. But the PM did have one trick up his sleeve, and quite a big trick it was too. He announced an agreement between the Government and the UK’s 8 largest banks, by which downturn-hit homeowners will be entitled to defer their mortgage interest payments for up to 2 years. The Government will guarantee against any losses that the banks would otherwise suffer because of this.
It’s odd that this got no mention in the Queen’s Speech itself (I suspect the plan was to unsettle the Tories during the debate – if so, if didn’t work). But its absence from the recent Pre-Budget Report – its natural home – is even more striking. Could it be that the Government quickly knocked this up in response to the sceptical reception that Darling’s fiscal stimulus package received? If so, then it deserves the utmost scrutiny in Parliament.
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