That the Parliament recognises reports that many UK banks, including Barclays, HSBC and NatWest, have again raised their mortgage rates as the hope of a Bank of England interest rate cut fades; considers that hard-pressed households desperately need a break from high interest rates; accepts that higher interest rates generally make it all the more difficult for first-time home buyers to get on the property ladder; considers that the fading hope of an interest rate cut is due to the failure of the UK Government to tackle inflation and its woeful management of the economy during 14 years in power, and believes that the people of Scotland would be better served if the country was an independent nation with all of the levers of power.