Can Labour take advantage of Truss’s mini-Budget?

I used to write about bond markets, so I speak with some authority when I say this: bonds are boring. Really, most normal people find talk of gilts and yields extremely tedious. Likewise, terms like debt and deficit are off-puttingly technical and easy to mix up. Basically, the public finances are hard to get excited about.

But getting people excited about bonds and debt could well be a vital factor in deciding the next general election. Today, Tories are feeling chipper. They think the Truss-Kwarteng non-budget frames the next election as a stark choice between exciting Tory tax cuts and boring Labour managerialism and taxes.

Missing from the debate today, because there is no OBR or Treasury forecast for the public finances, is any discussion of debt and deficits. A key challenge for Labour will be starting that discussion and keeping it going.

It is an unavoidable fact that the government’s choices are going to increase the UK’s national debt.