Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist, has warned that the prime minister, Andy Burnham, risks a Liz Truss-style crisis unless he makes tough choices in the Budget. He made the remarks in an interview with The Times published on 23 October.
Haldane said the UK was "close to being taxed out and maxed out in terms of borrowing". He said he feared a "mañana budget" that "doesn't speak to the urgency of now", and that Burnham cannot "vibe-code" his way to growth.
The Times reports that the cost-of-living package will be funded partly by a bank tax raid. Haldane called bank tax rises "penny wise, pound foolish" and said the decision could show the government lacked the courage to cut public spending. "Andy's biggest risk is that he loses the dealing room," he said.
According to The Times, Haldane was an informal adviser to Burnham when Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester. The prime minister had hoped to bring him into No 10, but Haldane declined.
As HuffPost notes, Truss's mini-Budget involved £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, and she lasted 49 days.
An unnamed cabinet minister told HuffPost that the UK is one of the fastest-growing G7 economies and has had the best deficit reductions. Neither claim has been independently checked.