Lewis Goodall was the worst. He said:
“But in fairness to Burnham, that isn’t Burnham’s fault… that is a reflection of weakness of the UK economy, the Liz Truss legacy, which so many of these people supported, including I’m sure the now Shadow Chancellor… Some of the hypocrisy in elements of the press who now interview Liz Truss as if she’s some sort of great guru, some economic hero, while at the same time wishing to create an equivalence with Burnham and Labour over what’s going on with the debt crisis – the sort of thing we saw with Liz Truss – is comic.
Let’s look at the facts. Japan’s 10-year yield has reached 3% for the first time since 1996. Germany, long known as a safe haven in European debt, has reached its highest borrowing level since 2011, at the height of the Greek crisis. US 10-year yields, as Emily said, are now nearly 5%, a 19-year high. Ours are at their highest since 2008. And yes, there are specific historic British reasons for that, about the weakness of our economy, including, as the Prime Minister said, Brexit, which has lowered our productivity and made us less able to weather financial storms. But let’s be clear. Tokyo, Berlin and Washington are not having problems with their borrowing costs because of Andy Burnham.”
New research published by economists at Bloomberg found that investor concerns about Labour’s fiscal plans are amplifying the impact of the global bond selloff on gilts. Burnham declined to rule out tax rises or further borrowing, while insisting this is a government “grounded in fiscal responsibility” that “will stick to the fiscal rules”…
UK yields are significantly higher. Traders are pricing in additional anxiety over Burnham’s plans and the upcoming Budget. Economists estimate Healey has lost about half of the £23.6 billion buffer he inherited from Reeves. The OBR is cementing its pre-Budget calculations now…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”