The think tank’s director general, Mark Littlewood, says he has been left distraught by the abandonment of many of the ideas they championed.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the think tank which had such a major influence on Liz Truss and which championed the disastrous mini-budget has been left ‘distraught’ after she had to carry out a humiliating U-turn on most of its proposals.

The IEA, describes itself as an ‘educational research institute’, which ‘furthers the dissemination of free market thinking’. Liz Truss has spoken at IEA events more than any other politician over the past 12 years, with IEA director general Mark Littlewood viewing Truss as someone who is ‘genuinely engaged in the ideas rather than just occasionally turning up to say a few warm words at a Christmas party’.

The think tank, which provided multiple members of its team to Liz Truss’s Government, was seen in Westminster as a major influence on economic policy and took credit for the tax cuts which favoured the wealthy. Truss later had to abandon the mini-budget after it resulted in financial turmoil and a collapse in investor confidence.

Now the think tank’s director general, Mark Littlewood, says he has been left distraught by the abandonment of many of the ideas they championed.

He told Politico: “I’m pretty distraught about it,”

“It did actually appear as if we had a new government that, in very broad terms, shared the IEA analysis of the problems with our economy, and it not being market-oriented enough.”

For a government and libertarian think tanks who championed the market above all else to have been repudiated by the markets in such a strong fashion can’t have gone down well.

It’s not just Truss who needs holding to account but also the think tanks such as the IEA who set out the blueprint of ideas that she championed but which have been totally rejected.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

(Picture credit: Youtube screengrab)

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