Where are we again? Oh yes: a newish Conservative prime minister has confounded his critics by winning a general election that most expected would lead to a hung parliament. The result has caused Labour to drop its leader and replace him with someone more reassuring and substantial. And before the Government can work on its main domestic agenda, a giant convulsion has reared its ugly head to turn the world of politics upside down.
That’s right, we are in the autumn of 1992, in the aftermath of ‘Black Wednesday’. The pound has crashed out of the European exchange rate mechanism, despite the Government imposing sky-high interest rates in a bid to hold it steady against the Deutschmark – a policy that has inflicted great damage on exporters and mortgage-holders alike.
Many families have been left in negative equity and cannot afford their monthly repayments. Thousands of businesses cannot service their loans and have gone to the wall.
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