Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to visit Scotland this week during the middle of the SNP party conference in Aberdeen. The Record understands the Prime Minister will arrive north of the Border on Friday to make a major intervention on devolution.
Devolution intervention
Burnham is expected to use a speech to express his support for Holyrood to hand more powers to local authorities. The Labour leader's trip is a headache for SNP bosses during the party's set piece event in Aberdeen, which begins on Thursday. John Swinney is expected to address Nationalist members on Saturday afternoon in a keynote speech.
Burnham's devolution intervention comes as the SNP Government undertakes a three-month consultation on how to rip up the map of local government across Scotland. Swinney has declared 32 local authorities is too many and wants to see larger regional councils created instead.
Mortgage costs row
It comes the SNP today accused the PM of breaking his promises to cut the cost of living as homeowners face rising mortgage costs. The SNP made the claim after the average interest rate on a new five-year fixed mortgage deal hit 6% for the first time in three years, according to financial service MoneyFacts.
Mortgages have been increasing in recent weeks amid concerns of over rising prices, interest rates and government borrowing costs. Analysis by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the SNP, shows the cost of interest on the average two-year fixed rate mortgage on the average house price in Scotland increased by £279 a month since 2021.
According to the analysis, in November that year, the average mortgage rate for a two-year fixed deal on a £177,352 mortgage was 1.51% and cost £657 a month. By July 2026, the average rate had increased to 4.48% and cost £936 a month – leaving households £3,348 a year worse off.
The SNP said mortgage rates had increased since Burnham became Prime Minister. The Bank of England, not the UK Government, is responsible for setting interest rates.
SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said: “Andy Burnham is breaking his promise to cut the cost of living as mortgage rates soar to new highs on his watch – leaving many households thousands of pounds worse off.”
