Tory favourship exposed as Sterling plummets

Following Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget announcement that included immense tax cuts, markets were rattled and the value of the pound fell to an all-time low against the dollar on Monday.

Front page headlines on Tuesday were dominated by the financial turmoil – though there were some who failed to confront the realities and dangers of market instability.

The Pound Kwartanks

Metro

Tory tax cuts are disasTruss

Daily Record

Sterling crisis deepens as Truss’s strategy unravels

The Guardian

Bank vows to step in after day of turmoil

The Times

While the majority of papers, regardless of political bias, uniformly covered the impact of the proposed tax cuts, some ran the most concerning spins even after the Sterling decline.

Daily Express:

Truss pledges to build world beating economy

Monday, 26/09/2022

Don’t panic! We have got a plan to cut debt

Tuesday, 27/09/2022

Daily Mail:

Kwasi’s boost for families

Monday, 26/09/2022

Fury at the City slickers betting against UK PLC

Tuesday, 27/09/2022

It’s interesting to compare the Daily Mail’s approach to the lowest decline in the pound under a Tory government with the coverage against Gordon Brown when on 22 October 2008, the sterling fell by 4% to a value of $1.62 in an article titled, “Worst Financial Crisis in Human History”.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said: “Once again, under Labour, the pound in your pocket is worth less. Indeed Gordon Brown has set a new record for Labour Governments, but it’s not one he’s likely to boast about.”