LAST week, the UK Government held their mini-budget. While families face a brutal cost-of-living crisis, the mini budget was a big handout for the very richest.

Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng made the decision to increase bankers’ bonuses and give those earning over £150,000 a massive tax cut, while imposing benefit cuts and sanctions on the most vulnerable.

One of the most striking immediate results was the pound falling to a record low against the dollar. But why has this happened, and what does it really mean?

International markets see the UK as an economic basket case.

After Kwarteng’s mini budget, international markets got spooked by the sense of the UK Government’s economic mismanagement.

Over the longer term, those earning less than £155,000 will lose out. Meanwhile, millionaires will gain at least £40,000 – higher than the average salary of an NHS nurse.

The unfunded tax cut for the rich means that the UK’s deficit will rise even further, which sent the value of the pound plummeting – which will make things more expensive.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said those who earn under £155,000 won’t benefit and the UK Government is “betting the house”.

Because the UK has a negative and worsening trade balance – which means it buys a lot more from abroad than it sells abroad – many goods will get more expensive.

It will exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis also when it comes to fuel and energy.

Oil and gas are priced in dollars on international markets, so a falling pound will make it more expensive in the UK.

And while the UK already has some of Europe’s highest energy prices, the falling pound will increase gas prices too. As energy is a huge driver of rising inflation, higher prices of energy will also increase inflation, which is already the highest anywhere in the G7.

We all pay the price for Westminster control – but we can choose a different future

This isn’t only the result of Kwarteng’s mini-budget – it’s been a long-term decline. In fact, the value of the pound since the Tories came into government in 2010 has almost halved.

Westminster control of our economy is costing every single one of us in East Lothian, apart from the very rich.

And while other countries similar to Scotland’s size have fairer, wealthier and happier societies than the UK, Westminster control is holding Scotland back.

Scotland has another future.