The Big Picture

Vincent Boland: Tories have learned nothing from history as they believe their own delusions

There are many examples to debunk the myth that the Conservatives are the party of fiscal discipline; chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s ruinous, unfunded budget is just the latest of them

Kwasi Kwarteng: after the British chancellor’s budget on September 23, the pound fell to its lowest ever level on the foreign exchange markets. Picture: BBC

One of the biggest myths in British political life is that the Conservatives are the party of fiscal discipline and sound money. The claim is nonsense. The Tories have been in power for 34 of the last 52 years, and on at least four occasions during their time in office they have wrecked the British economy, sent the pound crashing, undermined international confidence in the country, made voters poorer and ushered in another phase in ...