India, Sept. 18 -- About 7.4 million households in Britain carry a variable or tracker mortgage. Every month they receive a statement shaped by a decision made by nine people in a committee room on Threadneedle Street. On Thursday, three of those nine signalled they have run out of patience.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted six to three on Wednesday to hold Bank Rate at 3.75 percent, leaving borrowing costs unchanged for the second consecutive meeting. The three dissenters voted to lift the rate to 4 percent immediately, a quarter-point move the rest of the committee declined to make, and one that reads as Andrew Bailey's equivalent of a public warning shot. The next scheduled date they can try again is November 5....