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As the country emerges from ten days of national mourning, the government of Liz Truss continues with budget announcements. Faced with very high inflation, the new Conservative prime minister opted for measures criticized by the Labor opposition as favoring the wealthiest.
The early days of the new British government were eventful, but not for the reasons expected. Already at the second parliamentary session, the debate was interrupted by a press release about Queen Elizabeth II’s declining health. After ten days of public mourning, the new ministers hastened to multiply the announcements: limiting companies’ energy bills, lifting the ban on hydraulic fracturing, plans to optimize waiting lists for doctors… A sprint policy which culminated on Friday with, among other things, first major intervention by the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Finance, Kwasi Kwarteng.
Discreetly called a “fiscal event” – a euphemism for what is effectively the biggest tax cut since 1972 – this mini-budget takes up the main themes of the Liz Truss campaign: deregulation, borrowing and cutting taxes and social contributions. In a packed House of Commons, Kwarteng hammered home to MPs that it was one “New Era”, blames the war in Ukraine and European laws for Britain’s economic difficulties. His project: “to break the vicious circle of stagnation” and achieve a growth rate of 2.5%. It doesn’t matter that the bank
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