It’s not MY fault the mini-budget was such a shambles, it’s because of the Queen’s FUNERAL, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng claims
- Kwasi Kwarteng appeared to blame Queen’s funeral for shambolic mini-budget
- Government was plunged into crisis in the wake of the Chancellor’s tax plans
- Pound plunged to historic lows and Bank of England was forced to intervene
Kwasi Kwarteng appeared to blame the ‘high pressure’ of the Queen’s funeral for his shambolic mini-budget.
The Government was plunged into crisis in the wake of his plan being announced in the Commons, as the pound plunged to historic lows and the Bank of England was eventually forced to intervene to calm the markets.
In an interview with GB News, the Chancellor said it was important to place the mini-budget in the ‘context’ of the Queen’s death and funeral.
He spoke about the frenzied few days ahead of the mini-budget when asked if he would have done anything differently.
He said: ‘It was a very quick time that we did it. And you have got to remember the context.
‘What was extraordinary about that month was that we had a new Government and also we had the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, so we had a nation in mourning and then literally four days I think after the funeral, we had the mini-budget.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng speaks during a fringe meeting on the third day of the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham
‘It was high-speed, high-pressure environment and we could, as (former prime minister) David Cameron used to say, have prepared the pitch a bit better.’
But Mr Kwarteng also sought to downplay concerns, suggesting that stability could return to the UK economy in the next few weeks.
He denied that the policies contained in the £45 billion tax-cutting budget were ‘extreme’, instead labelling it a ‘bold’ package that has helped to ‘shift’ political debate.
He said: ‘No-one is arguing we should put up corporation tax, no-one is arguing that we shouldn’t have reversed the national insurance increase.
‘I think we have shifted the debate and I am hopeful that over the next few weeks things will stabilise.’
The Government had succeeded in getting ‘everyone to talk about growth’, he told the conference fringe event.
‘Not everyone agrees with some of the elements of the plan but everyone’s talking about growth.’
The Queen’s funeral cortege makes its way along The Mall
Striking an optimistic tone, Mr Kwarteng said he was ‘very proud’ of his mini-budget.
Asked how his job as Chancellor was going three weeks in, he told the packed room: ‘Very well.’
He said the Conservatives could win the next general election despite Labour’s 33-point lead in the polls if his plan to grow the economy works.
‘Polls do go up and down,’ he said, adding that ‘two years is an eternity’ in politics.
‘I never predict victory because that’s hubris’.
He also told a Conservative Party conference fringe event that things were going ‘very well’ since he took on the job, and suggested his party could win the next general election despite Labour’s massive lead in the polls.
Amid bitter infighting at the annual gathering, members of the Cabinet were publicly urging Prime Minister Liz Truss to raise benefits in line with inflation rather than the lower measure of wages.
In a possible hint of his opinion on the matter, Mr Kwarteng said: ‘Compassionate conservatism I thought was a good phrase and it’s something that I always think about in terms of policy and I think we do have a duty to look after very vulnerable people.’
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