The Guardian view on Rishi Sunak: the politician who cried wolf

theguardian.com:

The man most likely to lose the fight to become Conservative leader is threatening dire consequences if he is disappointed. Pointing to volatile financial markets, Rishi Sunak warned this week that investors will dump British assets if Liz Truss becomes prime minister and then borrows tens of billions to give away. Pressing ahead with tax cuts and public spending while ignoring the risk of an investors’ revolt is, says the former chancellor, “complacent and irresponsible”.

A degree of rhetorical licence is granted to electoral combatants, and Mr Sunak has enjoyed his full quota this summer. The once mild-mannered MP has spotted a dangerous “lefty woke culture” from which only he can protect “our history, our values, our women”. Indeed, the further behind he has fallen, the more extreme the vows for what he will do if he wins. But even the boy who cried wolf called it right once, and this latest claim will undoubtedly be taken more seriously. After all, its author once worked in the City for those money managers he sees as so jittery.

What’s more, on one measure confidence in British assets is falling. If the UK government wants a two-year loan, markets are currently demanding an interest rate of about 3%, the highest since 2008. That is about one percentage point above what they would ask from Rome and almost two whole percentage points up on Berlin.

Yet Mr Sunak is playing fast and loose with both evidence and explanation. While the hot-money speculators may be betting against the UK, the rate on a 10-year government loan remains low at about 2.7%. In other words, investors are pessimistic about the long-term outlook for the UK. Our energy shock has been larger than for many of our European neighbours and our inflation