Andrew Bailey’s fighting talk

Andrew Bailey this afternoon showed that those who start fights don’t necessarily finish them. Speaking as the only witness at the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee today, the Governor of the Bank of England landed some rather extraordinary accusations against Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, suggesting that he was not informed of the details in September’s mini-Budget and that he ‘does not think it was settled’ even the day before it was announced.

According to Bailey, both the Monetary Policy Committee and the Treasury officials who were briefing the Bank were forced to speculate about what was coming: ‘There was speculation that this was going to be quite a substantial package,’ he told the Lords committee, ‘but we did not know how big it was going to be and how substantial.’

Bailey’s comments make an already-fried relationship between himself and Truss worse. Right from the outset of the Tory leadership campaign, Truss was pointing the finger at the Bank of England, suggesting it was held responsibility for the inflation spiral that Britain is experiencing.