Liz Truss’ plan for growth, melding the biggest tax giveaway in half a century with Thatcherite deregulation, is a straight-up gamble with Britain’s future, and even before her chancellor of the exchequer had finished delivering it on Friday the bet was starting to sour.
The market’s verdict on the £220 billion (¥34.2 trillion) policy blitz set out by Kwasi Kwarteng was swift and devastating. The sterling crashed below $1.11 for the first time since 1985, taking its slump for the year to date to 19%. Five-year gilts posted their biggest ever daily decline.
"The markets will do what they will,” Kwarteng, 47, said when challenged in the House of Commons over the mayhem that he had unleashed.