As the UK economy bounces back, do we sceptics need to say we got it wrong? | Willl Hutton

Many of us have been confounded by recent figures, but the British model remains flawed

British capitalism seems to be on a roll. A million job vacancies were advertised in July, a new monthly record. Early signs are that unwinding the furlough scheme, now under way, is not going to cause a sharp rise in unemployment.

House prices are rising at the fastest rate since 2004. Public borrowing in July halved compared with last July. Many new companies are being created. Business confidence is rising. The recovery is moving so fast as threats of lockdown recede that the UK on average will get back to pre-pandemic levels of output before the year is out. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, can indulge his boss's tantrums; his political position could hardly be stronger.

The US private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's unsolicited - and swiftly rejected - takeover approach for the supermarket chain Morrisons is the latest in a flurry of bids for UK firms from private equity firms since the start of the pandemic.

Kwarteng and the chancellor collude in the fiction that Brexit presents opportunities that trump its obvious costs

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