When Rishi Sunak entered No. 10 on Tuesday, he paid lip service to the aims of his predecessor. Liz Truss ‘was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country’, he said outside Downing Street. But ‘mistakes were made’ which is why he was installed as Prime Minister: to fix the economic fiasco that has overwhelmed Britain over these past few weeks.
This morning’s news about looming growth forecasts brings both statements to the fore. Just over a week ago, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt thought he had to find upwards of £30 billion worth of spending cuts and tax hikes to fill the black hole in the public finances. But Treasury officials have told the BBC that Sunak and Hunt together may be looking for something closer to £50 billion to get the public finances back in order.
Spooking the markets with more unfunded spending has put the UK in an even more difficult spot
Why the hike? It’s thought that the Office for Budget Responsibility (which was cast aside for the mini-Budget but will be on full show for the Autumn Statement) will be downgrading its growth forecast for the economy.
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