A recap of what new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the BBC this morning.
Hunt admitted “mistakes” had been made with the government’s mini-budget, which was unveiled on 23 September
He said one error was to abolish the top rate of income tax for the highest earners - which is one policy the government has now reversed
Hunt also said it was a mistake to “fly blind” and publish the mini-budget without also providing independent reassurance from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that “the sums add up”
Speaking of “difficult decisions” ahead, he said some taxes would now go up, and that others would “not be cut as quickly as people want”
And, he said, “spending will not rise by as much as people would like”
Furthermore, the chancellor said, “all government departments are going to have to find more efficiencies than they were planning to”
Hunt, who is less than 24 hours into his job, declined to give details of his plans, but said he had been given a clean slate to rework the mini-budget
He stood by Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plans for the economy, saying these were “absolutely right”
He denied future moves by the government would represent another era of austerity, and said his team of “compassionate Conservatives” would keep in mind the most vulnerable in society
Well, having just got the job, he couldn’t say much else, could he …
We shall have to wait for the “plan” at the end of October …
Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic vision is not only dead, but that the immediate actions of this administration will be to do almost exactly the opposite of what the prime minister promised during the summer leadership campaign. This was a cold, hard reality check from a chancellor who is being upfront about the fact that his primary purpose is to put out the fires started by the government he’s just joined and restore some semblance of credibility to the UK economy.
Politically, there is an argument to be made that Jeremy Hunt is now more powerful than the prime minister. Hobbled by U-turns on her flagship policies, Liz Truss has reached for this experienced old hand to bring stability. As such, he is virtually unsackable and now holds significant power to force through unpopular policies on the basis that they are needed to remedy the mistakes made in the last month.
It must be a sign of my age that I can’t look at the serial failure that is Hunt, recall his youthful ineptitude whist health minister (remember those unnecessary fights with the doctors?) and see him as a senior politician let alone a safe pair of hands. Therefore I worry deeply about these possible unpopular policies he might force through.
Art , tell you what ,if he asked you out to dinner you wouldn’t be able to take **your eyes **off him ,would you ?
Come on now , surely you don’t rate a man’ s character by the set of his eyes . I mean he’s not exactly Marty Feldman is he ?
Zuleika, He is a married man, so l wouldn’t go out for dinner with him. Besides, he looks a bit slimey to me!
I never have, nor would l ever go out with a married man.
I believe your eyes say a lot about you. Aren’t they the mirror of your soul?
