Britain is now following a developing country economic model – and we know where that leads

‘The chancellor’s endorsement of airport expansion will have been music to the ears of the Qatari, Saudi and Chinese governments, who own stakes in Heathrow.’ Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

In 1994, I joined a march protesting against how the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – backed by the US – were forcing governments in the global south to follow what was called the “Washington consensus”.

We argued that privatising state assets, deregulating markets, and liberalising financial services to attract external investment was leaving countries more unstable, more unequal and more dependent on foreign actors. Decades on, I am horrified that an approach that wreaked havoc in the global south is still being pursued in the UK.