The FT said in an email this morning, linked to this article:

The Iran war has blown a near-£12bn hole in Britain's public finances, according to FT estimates, forcing chancellor John Healey to lean on Budget tax rises and spending cuts to fund efforts to ease the cost of living.

Higher borrowing costs and rising inflation have probably cut the UK chancellor's fiscal room for manoeuvre from the £23.6bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility in March to about £12bn, according to the estimates.

The reduction in headroom means Healey could be forced to announce painful tax increases and spending cuts in the Autumn Budget to retain the confidence of the bond markets and pay for measures to ease the cost of living for households.

This is total nonsense. This infographic explains that:

What the FT is faithfully reporting is, then, total drivel. Fiscal headroom is a work of fiction used to enforce austerity to create austerity:

I think that one needs updating!

All of this happens within the context of fiscal rules:

That's another one that looks like it needs revisiting. But the message is clear: we are being told utter nonsense, and the FT happily reproduces it.

Why is the question to ask? Why all of this? What is this mechanism of control all for?

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