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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
William Keegan

Tory ‘economic competence’ led Britain to Black Wednesday. Never forget

Norman Lamont Black Wednesday Major Lawson Rachel Reeves Bundesbank Economy ERM
Rachel Reeves waves as she walks through two large iron gates
Rachel Reeves still seems haunted by the narrative about the financial crisis propagated by the previous government. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Monday will be the 32nd anniversary of Black Wednesday. For younger readers, and older ones with ailing memories, Black Wednesday, on 16 September 1992, was the day the Tories lost their reputation for economic competence.

True, they had lost it once before, when the Heath government of 1970-74 fell victim to the inflationary impact of the 1973-74 oil crisis, their economic boom that got out of control, and what became known as the disaster of the three-day week.

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