Populist rhetoric without the popularity – Truss’s guaranteed recipe for failure

‘A leader who governs in perpetual negotiation with rebel MPs has no plan except day-to-day survival.’ Photograph: Tomas Tkacik/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

The Tories are debating their options under Liz Truss like a party of chefs fretting over different ways to unscramble eggs. The public may not like what is on the Downing Street menu, but it’s too late. The brittle shell of the prime minister’s authority is already in pieces.

Voters haven’t properly tasted Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget plans yet, but they can smell trouble from the way mortgage interest rates are rising. Also, the bond market is retching. Traders and fund managers who decide the cost of servicing UK government debt don’t like the chancellor’s fiscal recipe.