The disastrous Conservative mini-budget has left the country in tatters. This government can no longer be trusted
The past 10 days have told us all we need to know about this Conservative government. First, they crashed the economy by handing unfunded, unnecessary tax cuts to those at the top, while undermining the very institutions that make the UK a safe place to invest. Now they’re doubling down on their failed approach.
This crisis started when the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, stood up and delivered his mini-budget. The markets reacted immediately: sterling dropped 3.6% against the dollar while yields on five-year gilts increased by 50 basis points. The turmoil continued, leaving the Bank of England to take the unprecedented step of injecting £65bn into the economy to stop pension funds collapsing – just days after announcing they were winding down their programme of quantitative easing.