The Bank should have held its nerve - commercial lender TAB reacts to rate rise

05 November 2026

Duncan Kreeger, the CEO of commercial mortgage lender and bridging specialist TAB, said:

“This rate rise represents a failure of government. Britain pays a premium to borrow, because the bond market thinks we’re prone to inflation and run by politicians who aren’t serious about the public finances. Raising rates punishes borrowers for the government’s lack of discipline.

“Ministers have left Threadneedle Street to clean up after them when they should have been fighting inflation themselves: paying down debt, ruling out inflationary tax rises and ending excessive pay settlements in the public sector. Underlying inflation isn’t out of control. Core inflation was 2.8% in September, and food inflation is at its joint-lowest level in two years.

“We need a precautionary strategy tackling inflation, starting with the public payroll. Regular pay across the six million-strong public sector is growing at 6.3% a year, more than double the private sector’s 3.0%. That helped push average earnings growth to 3.9% over the summer, and through the triple lock that figure now sets the state pension too, lifting it above £13,000 a year. One cash injection fuels another.

“The Bank should have held its nerve, held rates, and put the onus back where it belongs: on the Treasury.”