Government Financial Incompetence

In future pub quizzes, assuming pubs will remain economically viable, one of the questions will be how long does it take to trash the British economy? Not long with the likes of Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng at the helm. Both were specially selected by Conservative members after rejection by their MPs. Obviously, the MPs were in a better position to judge their abilities, though members were seduced by their ideological positions. It is interesting to note that Rishi Sunak's warnings about Truss' economics have come to pass. Unfortunately, I told you so gets you nowhere in politics. This morning the Chancellor has suddenly discovered listing mode, his ears now unblocked, and has decided to scrap the 45p top rate of tax. The damage has been done.

The problem is that the budget of some weeks back cut taxes and paid for it by increasing borrowing. This decision was not coordinated with the Bank of England so we had the situation where the Bank was pulling in a different direction from the government. The markets have since increasingly lost confidence in the government. The government's policy has led to massive increases in inflation and interest rates. This will make the cost of living crisis much worse and severely affect mortgages. The government's incompetence, it chose the worst possible options implemented in the most careless way, suggests that unfortunately this is no passing phase.

There may well be additional U-turns as result of pressure from their own MPs, fearful for their seats, and public reaction, but they are going to be limited as the Prime Minister and Chancellor are grounded in ideology, however daft, rather than reality and pragmatism. This Conservative government's incompetence is costing us dear now and will continue to do so. It is toxic, and attacks not just the poorest and most vulnerable elements of our society but is also squeezing the middle classes dry. The sooner the lot go the better.