Bank of England raises rates for first time in over a decade to 0.5%

The Bank of England showed seven members of the committee voted for a rise while just two members voted for rates to remain at 0.25%. At the last meeting in September, only Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders had voted for a rise. The hike today is a reversal of the rate cut Bank of England governor Mark Carney implemented last year in the wake of the Brexit vote, which rocked markets and caused sterling to plummet. This is the first time rates have been raised since July 2007,  when they were raised by 0.25% from 5.5% to 5.75%. However, as the global financial crisis began to u...