UK interest rates – latest: Bank of England hold interest rates amid global economic uncertainty – UK Times

Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, said: “There’s a lot of economic uncertainty at the moment.

“We still think that interest rates are on a gradually declining path, but we’ve held them at 4.5% today.

“We’ll be looking very closely at how the global and domestic economies are evolving at each of our six-weekly rate-setting meetings.

“Whatever happens, it’s our job to make sure that inflation stays low and stable.”

The Bank of England has held interest rates after eight members of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain the base rate at 4.5 per cent.

One member of the committee, Swati Dhingra, voted for a sharper reduction to 4.25 per cent.

Interest rates have been held at 4.5 per cent by the Bank of England (BoE) amid mounting global uncertainty and growing trade tensions sparked by Donald Trump.

While the interest rate is still expected to fall further over the remainder of the year, only two further cuts are now expected across 2025 amid an ongoing battle with inflation, rising costs for businesses and an uncertain wider economic outlook.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 4.5 per cent, as expected.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates and analysis.

The Liberal Democrats described the Tory local election launch as a “desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote”.

Responding to the launch event, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The first brick in the blue wall came tumbling down in Buckinghamshire in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. Now Kemi Badenoch is back there in a desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote as people in the home counties turn to the Liberal Democrats.

“Whilst Kemi’s Conservatives compete with Reform in their policy agenda, the Liberal Democrats are focused on delivering for residents on issues including the cost of living, sewage in our rivers and the emergency in our NHS and care. Voters in Buckinghamshire and across the country haven’t forgiven the Conservatives for all the damage they’ve done. Badenoch will hear the very same if she knocks on doors today.

“Voters have a clear choice in May, and across the country, including in Buckinghamshire, they are turning to the Liberal Democrats as community champions who will stand up for them.”

Council tax bill rises will hit 5 per cent in April for the third year in a row, as almost all councils increase bills up to, or close to, the maximum permitted, Government figures confirm.

The average annual band D bill, the standard measure of council tax, will be £2,280 including all precepts this year, an increase of £109 on 2024-25 and 20 per cent rise on 2021-22, when the average bill was £1,898.

With 384 lower and upper tier councils subject to referendum principles, which allow them to raise the levy by 4.99 per cent without triggering a local referendum, 293 opted to hit the threshold and 56 chose to go close to the maximum.

This means 91 per cent of councils felt it necessary to impose significant increases, to cover growing cost pressures and rising demand for support services not provided by direct government grants and other revenue.

Council tax bills on average have increased by 5.1 per cent in the previous two years.

The May local elections are not a “national referendum”, Kemi Badenoch said, urging voters to remember “you will have to live with what you vote for”.

Asked whether she had changed Tory policies, like scrapping net zero by 2050, in response to Reform UK, the Conservative leader said: “I talked about net zero in 2019, there was no Reform then, in 2022 when I first stood for leadership, when I was business secretary. What people can see with me is consistency. They know what they are getting.

“But these local elections aren’t about me. They are about the public. What is it that they want in terms of public services?”

She added: “It is about all of these local councillors who pound the pavements every day, fixing things, making life better for ordinary people. That is what we are doing this May.

“This is not a national referendum. People sometimes will vote for protest parties, but what I’m saying now is that you will have to live with what you vote for. It’s not just an opinion.

Politics is “not showbusiness”, Kemi Badenoch said in a veiled criticism of Nigel Farage.

Asked what the ideological difference between the Tories and Mr Farage’s Reform UK is, Mrs Badenoch told reporters: “One of the things which I’ve been saying quite frequently – and I did in my speech on Tuesday when I launched our policy renewal programme – was that we don’t just make announcements, we have a plan.”

The Tory leader said “people have lost trust in politics because politicians make promises and don’t deliver”.

She added: “We also fell foul of that from time to time, and what I’m saying now is the Conservative Party is under new leadership.

“This is not showbusiness. This is not a game. This is about people’s lives. This is not for us. It is for all those people out there who need credible politicians. That is what we’re offering.”

Kemi Badenoch has issued a strong message to voters at her party’s local election launch in Buckinghamshire as the party scrambles to avoid another election wipeout, warning: “If you vote Labour, you get trash”.

As the Tories battle the threat from Reform UK and poor ratings in the polls, the Conservative leader put in a bid to keep traditional voters on side by painting a stark picture of what she argued was Labour’s impact on local councils.

“Labour councils always cost you more and deliver less”, she claimed. “I was in Birmingham at the weekend. Labour has run it into the ground. Bins not collected. Rubbish piling high everywhere.”

They have a £1bn black hole in their budget, now they’ve hiked council tax by 21 per cent over two years and cut services, all while Labour councillors gave themselves a pay rise.

“So I say to all of you watching, don’t let Labour do that to your council. If you vote labor, you get trash.”

Closing out her speech, she added: “If you want to stop Labour wrecking your area, vote Conservative. Don’t just hope for a great council, vote for one.”

Kemi Badenoch has offered up pessimistic vision ahead of May’s local elections, saying she expects the party to do just “a bit better” than a total wipeout.

Speaking at her party’s local election launch in Buckinghamshire, the Tory leader said: “If you match the general election result of 2024 onto this coming May, then we don’t win the councils like we won in 2021 – we lose almost every single one.”

“But I think we’re going to do a bit better than that”, she added.

Mrs Badenoch continued: “We know that these elections will be extremely difficult, but we also know why they matter”.