Sorry, we wrecked the economy

On 23 September 2022, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng announced a mini-budget that wrecked the British economy.

But they didn't do it alone. Their astonishing act of vandalism was made possible by a supporting cast of cheerleading newspapers and fundamentalist think tanks.

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The newspapers

On the day after the budget, the Daily Mail and Daily Express couldn't contain their glee.

Two days later, as the pound plunged, they were still singing Liz and Kwasi's praises.

But another two days on, even they could not pretend the budget had been anything but a disaster… so they tried to change the subject.

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The think tanks

Much of this calamitous budget was devised by four right-wing think tanks. All are closely connected, based around SW1's Tufton Street, and refuse to disclose their funders. Now they have something else in common: they have completely destroyed any credibility they still had.

1. Institute of Economics Affairs

Leading Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie knew the score:

It was a proud moment for IEA chief Mark Littlewood:

The IEA and its 'experts' were glowing:

2. TaxPayers' Alliance

Meanwhile, the prudent TPA were celebrating a blizzard of unfunded 'policy wins':

3. Centre for Policy Studies

Next-door neighbours the CPS were joining in the fun too:

4. Adam Smith Institute

The ASI completed the cartel:

These newspapers and think tanks have spent the last decade warning that progressive policies would lead to 'chaos'. Now they have got the right-wing policies they wanted – and the damage they have caused is worse than anything we could have imagined.