IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh has written for The Daily Telegraph warning that recent rioting in the UK, global financial instability, and Britain’s long-term fiscal challenges are making the new government’s job that much more difficult.

Matthew wrote:

“Last week things were looking positively rosy. The new Prime Minister had just come off the back of a series of high-profile international summits, from Nato in Washington DC to the European summit at Blenheim Palace. The latest GDP data had seen Britain outperform the Euro area. Inflation was down to target. The Bank of England also cut rates, with the likelihood of more on the way.

“Yet now we are experiencing a big and sudden vibe shift. Mobs clashing with police in street riots across the country. Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police commissioner, grabbed a journalist’s microphone and dropped it to the ground after leaving a Cabinet Office meeting. The US stock market contagion is having a big impact across Europe. Speculation is mounting about a global recession. The hopeful backwards-facing indicators could very quickly turn the other way.

“Simply changing name plates on ministerial offices is not enough. The new Government lacks a serious plan to resolve the pressures on public finances, both the immediate and longer-term ones, like an ageing population, or a meaningful strategy to improve the UK’s business environment. This is not helped by an expensive and broken health and social care system. The Government seems to be aware of this problem but isn’t yet willing to meaningfully shift the model in a different direction.”

Read Matthew’s full piece here.

Matthew’s piece was also featured in The Daily Express.