IT took Liz Truss’s Government just under a month to see the value of the pound drop to historic lows, the Bank of England being forced to step in and save pension funds from collapse and an enormous hike in the cost of government borrowing. These are the seven days it took for the Tories to nearly crash Britain’s economy.
Friday Kwasi Kwarteng announces his mini-Budget to shock from opposition benches and some in his own party. The Tories’ big plan is to cut taxes for the very rich by borrowing huge sums on the state credit card. Bankers’ bonuses will no longer be capped, which he says will allow the UK to better compete as a centre for international finance.
The Chancellor justifies his tax-slashing bonanza saying the UK’s debt burden relative to GDP is low and we can afford it and gifting cash to the already wealthy will boost investment and growth. There is anger from Tory opponents he dodged independent scrutiny of the “fiscal event” by not billing it as a full Budget, meaning it escaped a mandatory assessment from the Office for Budget responsibility.
