“May you live in interesting times”, the ancient proverb wishes, and yet, most followers of British politics and economics find ourselves yearning for the contrary.

In the thirteen years of the last Labour Government, there were only two Chancellors of the Exchequer casting steady hands over the Treasury (Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling, for the pub quiz fans among you).

Extraordinarily, the Conservatives have now offered us four in the past four months: Rishi Sunak (July), Nadhim Zahawi (August), Kwasi Kwarteng (September) and now Jeremy Hunt (October). It is a revolving door of chaos, at a time when, with the tragic loss of Her Majesty The Queen, and contending with a cost of living crisis, what the country deeply needing was stability and hope.

Having watched the Conservative Party see off one Prime Minister they rightly realised was unfit for office over summer, as I write it is impossible to tell whether the same fate will have met with Truss by the time this paper goes to print. Her entire leadership pitch -the high risk, high borrowing, tax cutting, banker’s bonuses liberating “Trussian economics” experiment- is in the shredder, with the latest Chancellor (you may remember him as the Health Secretary who went to war with hardworking junior doctors) announcing the vast majority of the PM’s disastrous mini budget is now on the cutting room floor.

Despite Truss’s reckless plan being reduced to confetti, the damage has been done. Because of this mistake, Tameside mortgage holders will be paying more than they would have done had Truss never rolled the dice with workers’ family finances. That makes me angry. Good governments are there to protect people from the worst effects of market shocks, not cause them. This is a crisis made in Downing Street, and it has made Britain a risk and a laughing stock on the world stage. The removal vans may be in and out of 11 Downing Street (and perhaps No 10) like a yoyo, but while the bubble wrap may be on standby, sadly the damage to our international reputation may take years to recover.

Neither the public nor the markets now know what (or indeed who) to expect from this Government. There is no clarity, no stability, no confidence that might win back wounded business investment. We don’t just need a change in Chancellor, or yet another unelected Prime Minister; it is time to let the public decide. We need a General Election. There’s a fairer, greener, brighter future possible for Britain, in which swinging for crisis to crisis is a thing of the past. It’s time to let the people have their say.