What they said about...

The Bank of England's announcement on Thursday that interest rates would rise by a quarter of a percentage point to 4% had been widely expected. It was, said the Times, a clear sign to consumers "that they have drunk a little too much debt and need to return to a more sober lifestyle". The Bank wanted to slow the growth of household spending, house price inflation and debt, said the paper, but would the public listen?

Neil Collins, the City editor of the Daily Telegraph, pondered the same question. "Have we borrowed so much that even a small rise in interest rates will make us more cautious, or have rising house prices made us so confident that we'll simply carry on, borrowing more if necessary?" he asked, before concluding that "a continuation of borrowing-and-spend, with more rates rises to come, looks the way to bet".

In the Daily Express, Stephen Kahn offered a similar forecast. "There seems little likelihood of consumers voluntarily doing much reining in, given the robustness of the jobs market and with the cost of borrowing still comparatively low," he said.

The Financial Times feared the Bank was being too cautious, and suggested the market would demand another half-point rise before the end of the year. "House prices are rising faster again, and personal debt levels remain perilously high. If further increases are required to ensure an orderly deflation of the bubble, they should happen sooner rather than later," it warned.

There was no reason for homeowners to panic, said the Independent, which rejected "alarmist comment" about house prices being "at the highest level as a multiple of earnings for 20 years". Interest rates "are at a much lower level than two decades ago and there is no reason why inflation and interest rates should not remain low across Europe for many years", it argued.

But Alex Brummer, writing in the Daily Mail, disagreed. "What has to be remembered is that there is a whole class of homebuyers who have stretched themselves to the limit," he said. "The psychological impact on a housing market where starter homes cost £100,000 could be more considerable than many people believe."