Rishi Sunak says cost of living help would leave ‘our kids’ picking up the bill

Rishi Sunak has defended his block on spending to ease the cost of living crisis, arguing it would force up mortgage bills which would be wrong for “our kids”.

Government borrowing would rise, which would mean higher interest and mortgage rates, if he gave way to pressure to turn on the spending caps, the chancellor insisted.

Mr Sunak has been accused of refusing to help families hit hardest by soaring inflation and everyday bills, in order to store up pre-election tax cuts for voters in 2024.

As a result, the cabinet was left discussing cost-free measures – including scrapping annual MOT tests and staffing rules in nurseries – to widespread criticism.

But, quizzed on his tough stance by Mumsnet users, Mr Sunak argued he is ready to make himself unpopular because of his fears for house owners and for “our kids’ future”.

“People are always saying ‘well, why can’t you do this?’” he said, referring to the “tonnes of stuff” he is asked to fund.

“And one of the simple reasons is because there’s a limit to how much we should be borrowing as a country.”

The chancellor said: “I’m really conscious that I don’t want mortgage rates to have to go up any more than they’re already going up.

“Now, if governments at a time like this, borrow lots and lots of new money – we are already borrowing quite a lot, our own interest bill is ticking up – what that does is risk interest rates having to go up even more.

“And that will just add to pressure for people with mortgage payments to make and I want to make sure that we’re careful that we don’t do that and I don’t make the problem worse.”

Mr Sunak echoed George Osborne, the Tory chancellor behind the harsh austerity measures a decade ago, in highlighting “future” generations.

“The other thing is I care about the future – my kids, everyone else’s kids,” he told Mumsnet.

“And so, every time someone says we’ll do this extra thing, which means borrow some more money to do it, what are we doing?

“That’s all our kids. That’s this new little one that we’re saying ‘we can’t deal with this problem ourselves, so we’ll borrow some money and leave it to that little baby and my kids and everyone else’s kids and grandkids to pick up the tab’.”

Mr Sunak explained he was not “being mean” and that people take the same approach to the future “in our private lives”.

The chancellor also said Britons should “feel confident” and “optimistic” about the future of the economy, despite a plunge in living standards.

He dismissed the UK tumbling down the G7 economic growth table, arguing it was a result of other countries having “caught up with us”.