In Frank Capra's black comedy Arsenic for Pity , an anti-marriage theater critic decides to get married and, before embarking on his honeymoon, goes to visit his two older aunts and learns that they are killing sick old people by putting the substance in a glass of wine. In British politics, libertarian Liz Truss, high priestess of a radical cult within the Tories, reluctant to Brexit before converting to the cause, unexpectedly arrives in Downing Street and, before losing the election, decides to kill a UK economy. A United Kingdom that was already in the doldrums, poisoning it with an overdose of tax cuts for the rich and subsidies for the poor, massive public debt and more expensive mortgages for everyone. Can the markets and what little sanity she has left within the Conservative Party save her?
If Boris Johnson introduced cyanide into the politics of this country with his lies, arrogance, authoritarian populism and illegal parties in Downing Street, Liz Truss has injected arsenic. Out of pity, like Cary Grant's aunts in the movie. Because in her opinion the British economy is sclerotic, it has been addicted to cheap money and speculation for too long, given over to an unsustainable financial and real estate bubble instead of promoting productivity, savings and investment. And she needs an electric shock to get her out of that vicious circle, the old Ronald Reagan theory of generating growth by lowering taxes on the rich.
But Truss's medicine has caused the pound sterling to collapse against the dollar and the cost of British public debt has skyrocketed above that of Greece, Italy and Spain, creating an unsustainable situation unless the United Kingdom (sixth largest economy in the world) effectively wants to commit suicide or allow itself to be annihilated (the International Monetary Fund has compared it to one of those emerging countries to which it gives lessons and remains so hot).
Just a month after coming to power, Truss has run into a dead end, under pressure from the financial markets, the Conservative parliamentary group and the right-wing press that championed her philosophy during the summer campaign for the Tory leadership to launch behind in his economic plan, even if it is by making a fool of himself and losing what little credibility he has left. The alternative is not just a landslide defeat for the Tories in the late 2024 election (perhaps already inevitable, they trail Labor by 28 points in the latest poll), but taking the national economy ahead. For the deputies it is about saving the furniture, that is, their seats.
"We'll see," Kwarteng declared at the IMF meeting in Washington, when asked if he is going to raise corporate tax again from 19% to 25% three weeks after lowering it, in the same interview in which he assured that she is not going to resign, despite strong speculation that her head is in grave danger, and her friend Truss is willing to cut it off in an attempt to save her own. It would be the government's third retreat in a short time, after canceling the elimination of the highest tax rate of 45% and capping the profits of renewable energy companies.
Intrigue in Westminster has returned to levels prior to the fall of Boris Johnson earlier this summer. Liz Truss was overwhelmed in a meeting with the parliamentary group, in which a legislator publicly accused her of "murdering (she did not specify whether with arsenic, cyanide or how) moderate and compassionate conservatism that helps the less favored." The prime minister, according to eyewitnesses, turned pale and mute. She has no allies and all Tory factions are against her. Some long for Boris Johnson and say the parties were child's play compared to the current chaos. Others propose Rishi Sunak as a relief, or a unit candidate like Sajid Javid, Kit Malthouse or Penny Mordaunt.
Truss thought that if she just said abracadabra and lowered taxes, everyone would applaud her and the economy would start to grow. But in this movie the reality is different, and the country that broke with the EU to regain control has lost it completely. Those who have the upper hand are the markets. They already saw an economy weakened by a Brexit that has closed it to its main market, and the financial hole created by the new government (tax cuts not covered by spending cuts) has been the last straw. A little arsenic, for mercy...
