Complaint
A listener complained about the programme’s description of how the UK bond market works, claiming it was “wholly inaccurate” to suggest it was a method of funding the UK Government. The ECU considered the complaint against the standards for accuracy set out in the ѿý Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The programme set out to explain “how and why the people who lend governments money, the bond markets, can destabilise a government’s finances” and cited the mini-budget presented by the then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in 2022. The presenter explained that governments, such as in the UK, issue bonds as a way to borrow money from lenders in return for repaying the money, plus interest, at a later date. The programme included contributions from a range of experts, all of whom offered the traditional view that governments issue bonds to borrow money when its spending exceeds its income from taxes and other non-tax revenue sources. Whilst the ECU accepted the issue of UK Government bonds could be understood as a financial asset swap operation, it considered a programme of this kind, aimed at a general audience, was entitled to give due weight to the widely accepted understanding of why governments issue bonds.
Not Upheld