Gordon Brown, 1997 Budget Statement.

Gordon repeatedly tells us that Britain will weather the global financial turbulence better than America. The Bank of England projects that over a million homeowners could face negative equity in the widely expected property market downturn. The data above shows that British homeowners are more indebted than even Americans…

The National Association of Estate Agents reports that house sales and mortgage approvals have halved. First time buyers are an increasing rarity, below the asking price deals more common, properties are taking longer to sell and the number of buyers on agents books is down by a third. And Gordon still condemns the Tories for proposing to effectively remove first time buyers from paying stamp duty…