Truss and Kwarteng like ‘gamblers in a casino’, says Labour as pound hits record low

theguardian.com:

Labour has accused Liz Truss’s government of acting like “gamblers in a casino” over the UK economy after the pound dropped to its lowest level against the dollar since decimalisation, following Friday’s unofficial budget.

With ministers still refusing to comment on the plunge in sterling after the announcement of £45bn of largely unfunded tax cuts by Kwasi Kwarteng, Truss’s chancellor, the pound fell to as low as $1.0327 on Monday, the lowest since Britain went decimal in 1971.

It nudged up slightly to $1.07, but remained around 7% lower than before Friday’s announcement, with markets seemingly badly spooked by the government’s economic plans.

With economists predicting the Bank of England might need to make an emergency interest rate rise, and the cost of government borrowing also soaring, the Liberal Democrats called for the recall of parliament from the conference recess.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, who was to deliver her main speech to the Labour’s conference in Liverpool on Monday lunchtime, was disparaging about comments in newspapers in which unnamed allies of Kwarteng blamed “City boys playing fast and loose with the economy”.

She told Times Radio: “Instead of blaming everybody else, instead of behaving like two gamblers in a casino chasing a losing run, the chancellor and the prime minister should be mindful of the reaction not just on the financial markets but also of the public.

“Financial markets are unimpressed, the British public are unimpressed and the chancellor and the prime minister need to take note because they’re not gambling with their own money, they’re gambling with all our money. It’s reckless and it’s irresponsible as well as being grossly unfair.”

Reeves said she was “incredibly worried”