Britannia unhinged: Inside the 7 October edition of the Guardian Weekly

Truss and Kwarteng's freefall market economics. Plus: Putin's bluster
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On Friday 23 September, Britain's new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, was hitting the pub with his advisers, celebrating the delivery of his flagship policy. His radical mini-budget", hatched with prime minister Liz Truss, was intended to turbocharge the British economy by cutting taxes for the rich and borrowing to pay for them.

It's safe to say the following days didn't go according to plan: the UK government's new economic agenda is in tatters after a fortnight that saw sterling sink to a record low against the dollar, soaring inflation, emergency Bank of England market intervention and a 33-point lead for Labour in the polls.