Rachel Reeves’ economic failings have been laid bare by a damning chart that shows UK gilt yields continuing to rise.

The yield on 30-year gilts briefly reached 5.43% on Friday, slightly below Thursday’s peak during a sell-off, which marked the highest level since 1998.

Yields on 10-year gilts hit 4.87% as scruitny on Labour’s policies intensifies.

Gilt yields, which reflect the cost of government borrowing, move inversely to prices. This means when yields rise, it becomes more expensive for governments to borrow.

However, this rising cost of servicing government debt could narrow Labour’s ability to fund improvements, like those of public services.

The sharp increase in gilt yields has been linked to a broader global sell-off in bonds.

Economists point to concerns that US President-elect Donald Trump may implement tariff policies, potentially driving inflation in international markets.

Meanwhile, fears of rising government borrowing and the looming risk of stagflation — a combination of high inflation and low economic growth — following the Chancellor’s autumn Budget, are also contributing to the market turbulence.

Oliver Faizallah, head of fixed income research at Charles Stanley, commented: “We’ve seen a global bond sell off driven by elevated inflation globally, volatile politics and political policy (with US tariffs being a large focus on future inflation) and increasing government debts.

“UK government bonds have been punished and sold off more so than the rest of the world. This seems to be due to concerns around sticky inflation leading markets to believe we’ll have higher rates for longer. Market views on Bank of England (BoE) cuts are more bearish than the BoE themselves, and the market is now looking at only 40bps worth of rate cuts for the year vs 60bps at the end of December.”

He added: “Higher gilt yields have increased borrowing costs, which has eroded most, if not all the UK government’s fiscal headroom. With poor growth numbers the Labour government may be forced to reduce spending, increase taxes, or increase borrowing.”

Some say the current market woes echo those seen in the fallout from the disastrous mini-budget of former prime minister Liz truss in 2022.

Nikos Tzabouras, senior financial writer at Tradu, commented: “UK economic gloom prevails and the outlook for 2025 is bleak. High inflation and rising wages are keeping the Bank of England from pursuing aggressive easing, yet the currency finds little comfort in this restraint.

“Meanwhile, the government’s higher tax and higher borrowing budget has soured market sentiment and eroded business confidence, compounding the nation’s economic challenges.”

He added: “The pound’s decline, coinciding with soaring borrowing costs, draws uncomfortable parallels to the 2022 mini-budget debacle.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has insisted there is no need to be worried about rising Government borrowing costs.

Speaking to broadcasters on Friday morning, Ms Nandy said the Labour administration’s tax and spend rules are “non-negotiable”.

Ms Reeves is said to be prepared to impose more severe spending cuts on departments if necessary to balance the books, having already ruled out increasing either borrowing or taxes.

Asked whether people should be concerned about the movement, Ms Nandy told Sky News: “I don’t think we should be worried. It’s obviously something we take very seriously, but these are global trends that have affected many countries, most notably the United States, as well as the UK.

“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD in Europe.”

She added: “We’re not going to borrow for day-to-day spending.”

Ms Reeves has come under fire this week for proceeding with a planned trip to China rather than remaining in the UK to address the rising cost of borrowing.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Ms Reeves was “missing in action” and accused her of “wheeling out her deputy to defend her loss of control of the public finances” as Treasury Chief Secretary Darren Jones answered questions in the Commons in her place.

Mr Jones said the trip was “important” for UK trade and would continue