Our PM lives in a different world

[Marmablade]

Article on BBC News today reporting Rishi Sunak reassuring people to hold their nerve and get through high interest rates.

This is the man who paid £325,826 in capital gains tax and £120,604 in UK income tax on a total of £1.9m in the last tax year.

Of that £1.9m, £156,163 came from his parliamentary salary, £173,398 come from investment and savings income and about £1.641m from capital gains - profit made on the sale of assets.

How can a man with an income of £1.9m a year possibly understand what the average person is feeling right now?? Holding our nerve won't pay the mortgage this month.

BBC News - Rishi Sunak urges people to hold their nerve on interest rates
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66012301

you do understand that the civil service isn't the government? And the vast majority of the civil service are not particularly well paid (on average lower than their equivalent in the private sector?). And work nowhere near whitehall.
Not sure firing an admin assistant for the army in Bristol or a case administrator for prisons and probations in wolverhampton, both on less than £24k a year is going to "show" Sunak but ok...

And while generally he might be out of touch, I think he had a point with that LBC caller - that IS a ridiculously high mortgage, significantly over the average, and if you take out that much money you should have some personal responsibility on considering how you would pay it back if interest rates went up. Speaking as someone who needs to remortgage myself within the next year so not from a position of privilege. Literally what else was Sunak supposed to say to him 'tell you what mate I'll pay it for you?'

The options available are exactly what he suggested- extend the term of the mortgage or go interest free until rates hopefully go down a bit. The guys argument was he was in his early thirties and didn't want to be paying a mortgage until he died, but a 30 or even 35 year mortgage would still only take him to the average retirement age which is completely normal, and he would have decades to overpay and reduce that term when rates decrease again.

I think he had a point with that LBC caller - that IS a ridiculously high mortgage, significantly over the average, and if you take out that much money you should have some personal responsibility on considering how you would pay it back if interest rates went up
On the face of it I agree with what you say, but on the other hand why is our housing market so messed up, why can't ordinary People access affordable housing? It's surely down to government policy designed to help the rich get richer at the expense of the rest of us 🤷

Exactly. Holding your nerve doesn't pay the bills. You actually have to take action rather than inaction to either actively increase your income or actively reduce your outgoings. Holding your nerve is a passive wait and see mentality which shouldn't be recommended for people who are in negative budgets.