Sunak likely to be next UK prime minister after Johnson pulls out of race

Thank you Boris

Boris once again lied to the people about having enough backers.

It looks like Boris has done a deal with Sunak but if he hasn't advised his supporters in parliament to not put their names down for Penny Mordaunt and it becomes a two way choice for the 160,000 party members, it won't be certain. Last time they had a choice between an incompetent, middle class white woman and Sunak. They rejected Sunak. Mordaunt isn't incompetent, Sunak is still Indian.

@Mr Kipling - I don’t think that Mordant will get the minimum backing of 100 MPs to go through to the ballot. It looks like Sinai will become PM by default.

Last time they had a choice between an incompetent, middle class white woman and Sunak. They rejected Sunak. Mordaunt isn't incompetent, Sunak is still Indian.

Perhaps they are not as small minded as you and judge people in other factors than their skin colour. For example Sunak being a billionaire and far removed from the average working class Brit. Oh and Sunak is British.

In keeping with the Conservatives, they are about to elect an Oxford educated rich guy. The only difference is that unlike Johnson and Cameron, he didn’t go to Eton, but Winchester is up there as well.

I don't agree with their Tory politics but I am not going to judge MPs by their color, sex, sexual orientation, age, or religion.

Equality Act 2010.

Protected characteristics

These are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Boris Johnson was/is fully aware his populist agenda, was not remotely the antidote necessary to revitalize the economy or make the tough decisions.

So why did Johnson cut his holiday short in the first place?

Sure not his ego/vanity?

Boris is always about Johnson and believes by the time of the next election in 2025 he will be the leader of the party.

So he was begging people for nominations, and then as soon as he claims to have hit the required number, he drops out? Sure, mate. Such obvious BS.

Good luck to Prime Minister Sunak, I guess.

Boris once again lied to the people about having enough backers

That looks likely. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s made some Tory MPs look like complete idiots. Zahawi went from calling for his head to wanting him back a few months later to now calling for unity under His head must be spinning.

The inevitable joke about this being the first time Johnson has pulled out doing the rounds

@Lincolnman 7:35 today

Nutshell!! Bingo!! Left out was play golf on the taxpayer's money while getting the taxpayers to help him keep his golf properties and hotels in the pink, so he can continue to lie about his wealth and not pay taxes.

For the best IMO. Time for a clean slate, a new face to try and get that sinking ship of a nation going again.

Good luck Rishi, you'll need it.

Interesting to see if Britain is mature enough to elect a non white. Good luck Sunak!

So it seems the banksters will get their boy in after all.

The Honking Pudding and his rabble lied about him having enough support until their bluff was called. That’s Johnson all over, has no compunction about lying, the pretends it never happened. The Conservatives would be finished if they chose Johnson again, the survival instinct kicked in.

For the best IMO. Time for a clean slate, a new face to try and get that sinking ship of a nation going again

Not a great tip about Johnson winning.

Reminded me of when you described Trump and Pence as the envy of the world.

Interesting to see if Britain is mature enough to elect a non white. Good luck Sunak

Sensible people won’t focus on his race. There are some who will but they are wastes of time.

Let’s see what he does.

When Liz Truss was chosen prime minister I felt an ill omen had descended upon the United Kingdom. I was proved right. When Boris Johnson cut short his Carribean holiday and landed at Gatwick I again felt an ill omen had descended on the U.K. And I was proved right again. Now Boris Johnson has withdrawn to prove me right. The remaining claiment to number 10 is a woman ridiculously named Penny. I think she should change her name to Liz Mordaunt because, she will surely pass through the revolving door at No 10 as quickly as if not, more quickly than Liz Truss.

Rishi is from a rich Indian British cultural background educated in the best schools and universities in Britain and America. His good looking face has briliant eyes book-ended by smile lines and at forty two he has proved his political worth and wisdom as the government's chancellor. And it now looks pretty certain he will be given the chance to prove his political wisdom and worth as Britain's Prime Minister.

Not a great tip about Johnson winning.

I tipped Rishi originally and then thought Johnson would come through, having more support of Tory members.

I doubt any pundit is calling it completely right.

No need to be negative and cynical all the time.

@Sanjinosebleed: 'Britain' isn't electing anybody at this point - That isn't due for another two years.

'Non-White'? Nice.

@Jimizo - Exactly.

Sunak or whoever makes no difference because, after more than a decade of austerity for the many, profits galore for the few and the consequent unravelling of the economy and the polarization of society, nobody can save the Tory party now except the gullible Brexiteers (fool 'em once, fool 'em twice...). In the end they'll all have to eat crow and humble pie and beg the EU to allow them to rejoin. Meanwhile, the UK hangs by a thread as Scotland makes other plans.

The Tory Party is toxic and regardless of who is the leader, it will lose the next General Election by a massive number.

@wallace- I agree that they will lose -but it won't be by a massive number. In fact, with the SNP so dominant in Scotland they may even end up cutting a deal with the Lib Dems. Two years is a LONG time in Politics.

No need to be negative and cynical all the time

You just described the UK as a ‘sinking ship’

I hope this government isn’t as negative and cynical as that.

Problems for Sunak if, or more likely when, he takes over. The Tories are notorious cannibals and the party is in chaos. He’ll have to get a grip of that very early.

theResident

Two years is a LONG time in Politics.

So is the 109 days since Johnson resigned. Three PMs in less than 120 days and two monarchs.

After conducting the poll Opinium used its MRP model which projects what it would mean for individual seats across the country. The firm predicts Labour would win 411 seats, Conservatives on 138, Lib Dems on 39 and the SNP on 37.

"One of the main causes of the Tory poll flop is that the mini-Budget is convincing voters that the party is on the side of the wealthy rather than working people."

One (or both) of two things has happened here.

Boris clearly did not have enough backers despite his lies saying that he did. If he did why did only 50 or 60 register themselves?

Second Sunak had a meeting with him on Saturday and maybe told him that he would destroy him if he ran (and won). Sunak likely knows where all the skeletons are hidden from Boris' chaotic premiership.

The Eton Mess can now stop lying and fly back to the Caribbean where he can lie on the beach and not do the parliamentary job he is elected to do.

@N. Knight

Spot on about Johnson taking the p##s regarding his taxpayer-funded job as an MP.

Deserves to be thrown out at the next election.

Everyone is wrong about Boris. He alone would have saved Britain. He is the best politician since Margaret Thatcher.

Even Boris is wrong about Johnson.

Everyone is wrong about Boris. He alone would have saved Britain. He is the best politician since Margaret Thatcher.

Very funny.

Bye Boris, UK was saved from another pathetic circus chapter..

Interesting to see how the son of immigrants from India could be UK Prime Minister..

A blow to the decadent imperialist white culture of the UK..

I hope he wins..

People fixated on Sunak’s race are very small-minded.

Not a fan of the conservative party, but this is probably for the best. Sunak has a strong background in finance, and that is what the UK needs, not a frontman like Bojo.

No Boris is a bullet dodged.

First piece of good news in years.

But not out of the woods yet. The 170,000 grassroots (ie. politically extreme) Tories who will choose the winner are the ones who chose Liz Truss last time. And yes, race will play a part. Sunak will have an uphill struggle.

Imagine working with the kind of people fixated on Sunak’s race. Like cats with a laser pointer.

Never employ these people.

Penny Mordaunt had half the backers of Boris and Boris couldn't make a solid 100. Most MP are remaining uncommitted so they can safely back the winner at the last minute. So Sunak it is.

Will the billionare whose fortune is based on his Cayman Islands hedge fund - and good global elite financial connects via his foreign wife - really be the one to breath life into and revive the UK's latent talent and productivity in industrial manufacturing, engineering, and science? That requires a complete redefinition of economic success from that which defines Sunak himself. We can only - hope.

So the guy that lost to Truss is going to be selected now, this is not a good look.

The article here again is wrong - the problem with the Truss economic plan was that 60 billion pounds of unfunded spending (debt) was included, not the tax changes.

If Sunak wants to tame inflation he’s going to have to slash spending down to size, but I gather he thinks it’s a better approach to hike taxes as the UK goes into recession.

Not inspired…

Kwarteng should run, come to think of it. Just keep the unfunded spending out of it this time, and things will go much better.

Kwarteng should run, come to think of it. Just keep the unfunded spending out of it this time, and things will go much better.

I think I finally understand - it's a bit. You're doing a joke. Otherwise it would seem that you're unabashedly saying that poor people should freeze to death because they cannot heat their homes while the wealthy get a tax break that will let them jet off to the Caribbean for Christmas. Which would, of course, be an absolutely monstrous thing to suggest. Which is why you're doing it in jest, and why you are trying to 'explain' your reasoning with a child's interpretation of finance. It's a good joke, but even the best joke gets stale when you repeat it too much. Maybe it's time for some fresh material.

Express sister, no in reality the big government spending has been causing huge inflation worldwide and that is the cause of struggles for the poor and needy.

But the UK is going to experiment with unfunded tax hikes and higher unfunded spending…

Good like to our British chums.

Changes to tax structures could be a part of a pro-growth solution to help produce the goods (literally) that are needed to tame inflation. But some people see those changes as “tax cuts for the rich”. Too bad.

Good luck to our British chums, is all I can say to that.

Changes to tax structures could be a part of a pro-growth solution to help produce the goods (literally) that are needed to tame inflation. But some people see those changes as “tax cuts for the rich”. Too bad.

Kwarteng suggested this and the sterling imploded. This was only a couple of weeks ago, I'm surprised you don't remember. Is this also part of your act?

You know now that there was tens of billions of spending in the mini budget (I think Truss put them there, not Kwarteng) though right?

You know now that new spending is to be funded by borrowing tight? Your unfunded tax rate hikes won’t produce the revenues.

The full Jonson statement......

Boris Johnson’s full statement withdrawing from No 10 race

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/23/boris-johnsons-full-statement-withdrawing-from-no-10-race

I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.

There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday.

But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.

These three paragraphs are untruthful, disingenuous.

I really don't believe Johnson is been sincere and straightforward about his motives.

Best for all concerned Johnson stood down.

There are many questionable aspects of Rishi Sunak.

First, his wife is non-British and holds some business connections in Russia.

Akshata Murthy has an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, thanks to her shares in Infosys Ltd.  Pays limited British taxes. 

Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore.

The wealth of Rishi Sunak is estimated to be about £700 million. But he wasn't born iinto a rich family.

Rishi Sunak held an American Green Card when he was chancellor which required his filing annual U.S. tax returns.

Stuck the knife into Boris causing a leadership contest, in which he won the MP's vote but lost the membership vote. The Tory Party membership of 160,000 already voted aginst him.

Should previous contest losers be allowed to stand again? I suppose, their party, their rules.

TokyoLiving

Today 09:49 am JST

Interesting to see how the son of immigrants from India could be UK Prime Minister..

He certainly couldn't be the prime minister of Japan. Not now, probably not ever.

A blow to the decadent imperialist white culture of the UK..

Just because Japanese culture is stuck in the 1970s it doesn't mean other cultures haven't moved on. No one whose opinion matters cares in the least what his ethnic background was. I suppose that must be a hard concept to grasp for the average introverted Japanese person who thinks everyone else is just as much of a closet racist as they are.

A blow to the decadent imperialist white culture of the UK..

There are more than 60 non-white MP's. 80% of the population is white. A higher number of non-white MP's than percent of the population.

TokyoJoeToday  07:24 am JST

Last time they had a choice between an incompetent, middle class white woman and Sunak. They rejected Sunak. Mordaunt isn't incompetent, Sunak is still Indian.

Perhaps they are not as small minded as you and judge people in other factors than their skin colour. For example Sunak being a billionaire and far removed from the average working class Brit. Oh and Sunak is British.

Sunak is British. If he becomes PM he'll be like Obama, a first. A non-white head-of-state. I hope the UK will have more sense as a people and will have evolved enough to accept him. I'd hate to see him get the same racist conspiracy crap that Obama took as POTUS.

JimizoToday  10:34 am JST

Imagine working with the kind of people fixated on Sunak’s race. Like cats with a laser pointer.

Never employ these people.

Britain is diverse largely because of its colonial/imperial era and the appeal of freedom but all these people there are Brits. Just like the racists, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, antisemites, etc. who rallied around the traitor Trump have no place in the diverse US democracy, the same goes for the UK. Times have changed and those National Front types and their attitudes aren't wanted or welcome there either.

You know now that there was tens of billions of spending in the mini budget (I think Truss put them there, not Kwarteng) though right?

You "think"? OK. Cool story.

Spending money so that citizens don't freeze to death is good, in my opinion. I suppose you disagree. Not the best look, but it's the one you've chosen.

You know now that new spending is to be funded by borrowing tight? Your unfunded tax rate hikes won’t produce the revenues.

In the first place, "unfunded tax rate hikes" aren't mine. Secondly, tax rate rises are not, by definition, unfunded - they are for raising funds. Thirdly, there were no proposed raises in the rates. Keeping the 45p tax is not a raise when it already existed.

I know you don't understand finance, but now I'm wondering whether or not you understand cause and effect, or the nature of how time works. Of course, I may simply be falling for your latest comedic jape.

wallaceToday  01:09 pm JST

"A blow to the decadent imperialist white culture of the UK.."

There are more than 60 non-white MP's. 80% of the population is white. A higher number of non-white MP's than percent of the population.

Facts may be wasted on someone who's formed his impressions of Britain on a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey he's watched.

Sunak likely to be next UK PM after Johnson pulls out(?)

Does it matter if an Asian British ( & not a white British) takes over #10?

It seems to have become a mental asylum, allowing only those with overtly crazy & overly greedy politician to put up for a short stay.

Elections coming(?)

I guess it’s more a strategic decision or let’s say risk minimizing, to take BJ out of the focus now and maybe to present him again for the general election. He surely might turn the current Labor preferences in the surveys into a win or bring smaller loss than now, if Sunak should fail too. And the same if now Sunak won’t fail and delivers a great job, then again the Tories can win or limit their losses by presenting either a successful Sunak or a reinforced BJ as candidate.

@wallace: Correct, their party, their rules. Infinitely more sensible than the mess that enabled Corbyn into the leadership in 2015, in fact, better than than the process that the Labour Party still employs, effectively ignoring the PLP and giving the block votes to the Unions. Labour would have won in 2015 without a shadow of a doubt had Ed Miliband not stabbed his brother in the back and done a deal with the Unions, costing you his brother who was one of the finest politicians to ever grace your party.

As a paid up Tory member, I am gracious enough to acknowledge that this a s**t show at present - But your party of choice has some fairly dubious history also. Lets not forget James Callaghan, unelected by the public, that led to the winter of discontent. Neil Kinnock being allowed to lose TWO general elections before being tossed - The disgrace of man that was Michael Foot, wanting to remove our nuclear deterrent at a time when the threat of WW3 was as high as it is again now.

So, yes - your time will come round at the next election, but like so many left wingers you need to look at the past to realise your mistakes also.

 Correct, their party, their rules. Infinitely more sensible than the mess that enabled Corbyn into the leadership in 2015, in fact, better than than the process that the Labour Party still employs, effectively ignoring the PLP and giving the block votes to the Unions. 

The British Labour party has a "one member, one vote" system for choosing its leader. The electoral college was abolished under Ed Miliband's leadership.

Good thing Ed Miliband lost in 2015, though. Imagine the chaos! Good thing the UK has had nothing but stability in the intervening time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to take a big sip of coffee before I read a summary of British politics from 2015 to 2022...

@Express sister: Thank you for correcting me.

The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure.

theResident

I disagree with your comment on Labour Party voting. The membership of the Conservative Party is about 160,000. In the Liz Truss election the turnout was 80%.

Voting in the Labour Party is way more with 800,000 members. BTW the Labour Party are not my party of choice and I have never voted for them once in my life. Not that I have a vote anymore. The unions no longer have a block vote.

I am not a left-winger.

The Tories have been a disaster since David Cameron including taking the country out of the EU. So many promises but never delivered.

In the Liz Truss election who did you vote for, Truss or Sunak?

Sunak.

The Tories have been a disaster since David Cameron including taking the country out of the EU. So many promises but never delivered.

In his defense, Cameron wanted the UK to stay in the EU. I would have quit if I were him, too.

If I said, "I think we should go to Disneyworld for vacation", and my wife said, "I think we should go to Gary, Indiana", and convinced our friends that we should go there, against my numerous factual objections, and won the vote, and said, "cool, I won, now you have to plan our trip to Gary", I'd say, "no, plan it yourself".

The Tories have been a disaster since David Cameron including taking the country out of the EU. So many promises but never delivered.

David Cameron campaigned to remain in the EU.

@Rodney: No one cares what you think. We have moved past that era a long time ago.

David Cameron gave the country the Brexit referendum. Gross error of judgement.

Interesting to see if Britain is mature enough to elect a non white.

Sunak has already been elected by his constituents. And as a poster above says, so have about 60 other MPs.

While there are certainly racist elements in the UK, I don't think it affects voting so much. Sunak is likely to be viewed in much the same way as many of his colleagues - a rich, privately educated posh-boy. A different kind of prejudice perhaps.

wallace - "Voting in the Labour Party is way more with 800,000 members."

A really democratic way to go about choosing a candidate in a primary would be to let every voter who is not registered to another party vote in the primary.

charles chevaux

to avoid fraud, all voters must be registered members of the political party one month before an election of leadership.

What would be the better way to elect the PM?

Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is best placed, qualified, with the necessary experience in office to face the economic challenges ahead, regardless of gender, race etc

Rachel Reeves labour shadow chancellor is more than capable too.

I would have liked to see both taking a leap of faith and working together, I think the country, when faced with a situation that will requires a more nuanced approach to finding a solution to what could turn out to be one of the most severest cost of living downturn in living memory.

I, too, prefer things when there is no opposition to the government.

The fraud would be taken care of by allowing only registered voters. The qualifying registered voters would simply be any voters already not registered under another party - and the law would require such membership be documented with voter registration.

In the US open vs closed primary is decided per party per state. Most are closed, I believe.

Generally speaking, parties rely heavily on idealist/fanatic members to do election hard work - they end up wielding a lot of influence - and that promotes a polarization of politics, a leaves a lot of people out of the loop.

Of course idealists/fanaticists are an important part of a dynamic democracy - but they would serve better by having to widen their appeal rather than just getting by being the least worst choice.

@Express sister - Competition and cooperation can run simultaneously.

charles chevaux

if non party members could vote in a political party leadership election what would be the purpose of being a member of the party.

None of the political parties publicly reveal the personal details of its members. So how would you check the tens of millions of registered voters who are not members of the party?

expresssister,

Secondly, tax rate rises are not, by definition, unfunded - they are for raising funds

The naïve intent may be so, but that certainly doesn’t mean that this is the actual result, as empirical evidence has shown on various occasions in the past. Again, revenues do not always go the same direction as tax rates, because taxes have consequences for economic behavior. As a studied genius in finance that you make yourself out to be, I should not need to tell you, but just to be sure…

Thirdly, there were no proposed raises in the rates.

No, Sunak was going to raise corporate tax rates to 25%, but the Kwarteng plan froze that.

The naïve intent may be so, but that certainly doesn’t mean that this is the actual result, as empirical evidence has shown on various occasions in the past. 

The Laffer Curve isn't empirical evidence.

Again, revenues do not always go the same direction as tax rates, because taxes have consequences for economic behavior. 

This hasn't been in dispute. But cutting taxes for the wealthy and for corporations always leads to lower revenues and higher debt. Just look at the last 40 years of neoliberalism.

As a studied genius in finance that you make yourself out to be, I should not need to tell you, but just to be sure…

I have never made a claim to be a "studied genius" in anything. I will accept your description, however, and add it to my resume.

No, Sunak was going to raise corporate tax rates to 25%, but the Kwarteng plan froze that.

The rise to 25% was already planned and priced in. The market was ready for it. Kwarteng's fart of a budget, which included not raising desperately needed taxes, saw sterling drop like a stone.

Again, this was all very recent. I'm taken aback that you don't recall it.

Those commenters saying the Tory Party voted for Truss because Sunak was Indian are your typical Guardian-reading types who can only see things in terms of race. The truth is that they preferred Truss because she promised tax cuts and because Sunak had betrayed Boris, who had won an overwhelming mandate in 2019. They couldn't forgive this disloyalty.

To put things into perspective, the previous shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, was (and is) a dyed in the wool socialist. But when he was in his role as a potential chancellor in waiting, he went around to banks, funds, etc., to tell them, "look, you may not like all of our plans, but this is what we're going to do, if we form a government". The City said, "yeah, we're not 100% on board with this, but thanks for telling us, because now we know what to expect". Kwarteng and Truss went full bananas without telling anyone what was happening, there was no plan on the government's part, and no ability for market actors to plan.

Lord DartmouthToday  05:40 pm JST

The truth is that they preferred Truss because she promised tax cuts and because Sunak had betrayed Boris...

Another one who's apparently on first-name terms with him.

who had won an overwhelming mandate in 2019. 

Hardly. Boris Johnson won a big parliamentary majority in 2019. It would be an overwhelming mandate if his election victory had been the will of the electorate, but the Conservatives only got 43.6% of the popular vote.

Simon in 2019 the picture was rosier than the here and now.

Of course the same could be said about the political environment. Brexit etc.

I would like to suggest it is not the voting system at fault, many feel are not part, or not want to be part of a society that has in many respects pasted them by.

The education system in the UK is broken.

Maybe the situation the country is facing will bring about change, a political fork in the road.

Sometimes you have to hit the bottom before finding a solution.

No longer able to vote in the UK as I no longer live there, so I guess I shouldn't really care about Politics anywhere, as I cant vote in any Country. So much for "Democracy".

Johnson promised to restore the vote for ex-pats. Guess he didn't stay around long enough.

But cutting taxes for the wealthy and for corporations always leads to lower revenues

A demonstrably false claim. You are welcome to your opinion but you can’t have your own facts.

The great Thomas Sowell documents counter examples in his short essay about “trickle down and tax cuts for the rich”, which you could easily Google up a pdf of, should you start to care about facts ever.

and higher debt.

It’s basic finance, that debt is a function of revenues and spending - not just of revenues.

Sunak is now, the next PM as all the other contenders have pulled out... :(

The India Trade deal will come forth soon, though India will be the winner. More Indian's will be allowed into the UK under a special/preferential status, and further discontent between the existing Muslim communities within the UK and Indians will be on the rise going forward. The Rich will continue to Milk the Country dry, and then head off elsewhere, just like a plague of Locusts. The UK will fragment and end up as a 3rd World Country.... it's already heading there now with the idiot Eco-Terrorists - "Stop Oil Now", etc. Watch what influence Sunak's Wife now plays in British Politics both locally and Internationally....

Rishi Sunak will be the next British prime minister.

The Laffer Curve isn't empirical evidence.

Again, revenues do not always go the same direction as tax rates, because taxes have consequences for economic behavior. 

There is no econometric data anywhere in the world that backs the Laffer Curve. None whatsoever. The notion that lowering tax rates increases tax revenues has never happened in any nation at any time, including in nations with tax burdens, meaning tax revenue from all sources as a proportion of GDP in excess of 50% as one finds among a handful of Scandanavian nations. It is a story politicians like to tell and constituents are often more than willing to push the "I Believe" button but it is a politically expedient lie. My degrees are in Economics so I know of what I speak.

The great Thomas Sowell documents counter examples in his short essay about “trickle down and tax cuts for the rich”, which you could easily Google up a pdf of, should you start to care about facts ever.

Thomas Sowell conveniently ignores the fact that there was a depression from 1920-22 where unemployment grew from 4% to just under 12% and GD declined 17%. That is a huge GDP decline. Then President Harding also cut the Federal budget in half, which if one understands the Equation of National Income one understands that a large reduction in government spending during a depression accelerates the decline in GPD. Imagine cutting the Federal budget in half today. President Harding made a bad situation worse. Sowell cites a unique situation and does not tell the full story. He does not tell the whole story of that depression and its outcome, which indeed led the US right into the Great Depression due primarily not to lower tax rates but due to unrestrained lending by banks at a time when the Fed existed in name only and had no power to control the money supply. And obtw, the US was on a gold standard throughout this period but banks were lending willy nilly with no restraint and growing the money supply with these loans.

Equation of National Income: GDP = C + I + G + ( EX - IM ). In words, GDP is the sum of consumption, investment, government spending and next exports. If GDP is declining, most likely due to declining C and I, cutting G only accelerates the decline in GDP. That is what President Harding did. It is natural that government revenue would rebound after such a depression, a fact that Mr. Sowell deliberately ignores.

fxgai

The article here again is wrong - the problem with the Truss economic plan was that 60 billion pounds of unfunded spending (debt) was included, not the tax changes.

Not according to the markets. The markets reacted to the incompetent tax cuts, not the additional spending.