As UK 30-year gilt yields surge to record levels, Tim Focus warns Chancellor Reeves of the threat of bond vigilantes, the dark knights of the City

Wearing a mask to protect a city from crime, while others wear anonymity to discipline governments when they smell fiscal recklessness: if the fictional world of Gotham has a masked vigilante, the real world of the City of London has bond vigilantes. Both operate from the shadows, both strike when fear is high, and both change behaviour through force, whether of fists or finance. But unlike the dark knight who only returns to cinema screens in 2027, bond vigilantes are very much back, and Westminster is their latest victim.

There’s a storm coming, Chancellor Reeves. Indeed, she best batten down the hatches because this week, UK 30-year gilt yields surged to their highest levels (5.75 per cent) since 1998, 15 times the low of 2020. It’s clearer........

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