It’s no secret that trust is hard to gain and easy to lose.
That applies even to a wealthy country like the UK and its relationships with the financial markets. Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had planned to fund their calamitous mini-budget on borrowing.
But what if the people with the money to lend take one look at the Tory Government and don’t like what they see? The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank warned yesterday that the UK Government could be forced to make £60billion worth of cuts to fill the gap left by unfunded tax cuts and the costs of extra borrowing.
The IFS concluded that won’t be achievable through routine savings – and that public expenditure would have to be slashed instead. That could have a brutal impact on already struggling services such as the NHS, schools and much more besides.
It can’t be repeated too often that much of this was self-inflicted. Kwarteng could have stuck to the spending plans set out by his predecessor Rishi Sunak. They were far from perfect but didn’t tank the pound.
Now we’re faced with a return to the dark days of the 80s when Tory governments routinely underfunded public services. Truss has made no secret of her admiration of Margaret Thatcher so it is no surprise she is now arguing for measures that will see spending on schools, hospitals and pensions trashed.
Thatcher did nothing to mask her hatred for the welfare state and the NHS. Truss is from the same backward school of thought and is already inflicting chaos. The damage caused by this government in just one month could take years to fix.
Trolls won’t win
Comedian Janey Godley has gained many admirers with her brutally honest account of living with cancer.
But her health has improved and she is now going on a new nationwide tour. With her usual gallus humour she has titled her new show “Not Dead Yet”.
She chose that title to hit back at trolls who have targeted her with abuse online. Janey is a tough lady and has dished out her fair share of jibes online.
But some of the comments directed at her were way beyond banter and strayed into the worst kind of hate speech. It’s a sad sign of the times that some people on social media feel it is OK to attack a woman trying to cope with cancer.
For some reason it always seems to be women who are the target of these anonymous trolls. We hope Janey’s fearless approach to talking about her illness will be an inspiration to others.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
