You have to go back to the 1940s, the Second World War and the austerity that followed to find a longer period of unchanged rates. It is true that Britain is still recovering from its deepest recession since the 1930s and grappling with its largest budget deficit since the war, but there is no escaping the sense that rates will have to start rising asoon. Analysis from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) earlier this year will have spooked the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, too. LGIM reckons 90pc of the country is on variable mortgage rates compared with just 60pc in 2007. In other words, in the past ... (full story)