Chancellor Jeremy Hunt faces criticism for praising former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic policies, reigniting debates over the controversial tax cuts and their disastrous impact on the UK economy. Here’s the full story.
Major Headache
With the election drawing ever closer, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has inadvertently caused a major headache for the Conservatives.
Praise for Truss
A leaked recording, first reported by the Guardian, has surfaced of Hunt praising former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic policies.
Infamous Mini-Budget
Liz Truss’s tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the infamous mini-budget, which proposed £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts, spooked the markets and was catastrophic for the country’s economy.
Economic Instability
Her plan to implement massive unfunded tax cuts led to severe economic instability, forcing Truss to replace her then-Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, with Hunt, who subsequently reversed most of the proposed measures.
Rushed Implementation
Despite these reversals, Hunt’s recent remarks suggest that he may not believe Truss’s ideas were entirely wrong but that their implementation had been rushed.
Support for Goals
During a student meeting, Jeremy Hunt expressed his support for Liz Truss’s economic goals, describing them as a “good thing to aim for.”
Same Objectives
Despite the disastrous outcome of Truss’s mini-budget, on the recordings, Hunt insisted that he was “basically achieve some of the same things that she wanted to achieve.”
Gradual Approach
He added, “But I’m doing it more gradually because I’m demonstrating at every stage that this is consistent with keeping borrowing under control. So, it’s taking longer to get there, but I think it’s obviously in a way we can actually deliver it.”
Market Fright
Though Hunt agreed with the aims of Truss’s mini-budget, Hunt suggested that, as Truss failed to explain how the tax cuts would be funded, the markets had “thought that we were just basically going to fund all these tax cuts by massively increasing borrowing. And they took fright.”
Wave of Criticism
Hunt’s comments sparked a wave of criticism from opposition politicians and economic analysts.
Labour’s Response
Darren Jones, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, has written a letter to Hunt, stating, “I find it frankly staggering that you, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, hold this view. I would remind you that the economic policies pursued by the Liz Truss administration led to a huge rise in interest rates, an eye-watering £240 increase in the typical monthly mortgage payments of millions of remortgaging households, and put pensions in peril.”
Repeating Experiments
He added, “It is becoming increasingly clear that far from turning the page on the Liz Truss episode, you and the government of which you are a member want to repeat this dangerous experiment.”
Liberal Democrats Criticism
Similarly, the Liberal Democrats also criticised Hunt’s comments, with the party’s Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney stating, “The Conservatives trashed our economy and they’ll do it again. This just shows they’re all cut from the same cloth.”
Desperate Let Down
She added, “From spiralling mortgages to stealth taxes on pensioners Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss and all of these ministers have desperately let people down.”
Controversial Comments
This is not the first time Hunt has caused controversy during the election campaign. Other comments have surfaced from a newsletter to his constituents, in which he claimed that the many tax cuts outlined in the Conservative manifesto would be funded by government savings from “an enormous back-to-work programme.”
Hunt’s Defence
In Hunt’s defence, his spokesperson stated, “This is nonsense and takes the Chancellor’s words out of context entirely.”
Fully-Funded Cuts
They added, “We want to lower the tax burden and boost growth, and that’s exactly what we have done with our fully-funded tax cuts and inflation returning to normal levels.”
Starmer’s Criticism
However, Labour leader Keir Starmer piled on more criticism of the Chancellor, stating, “What has emerged this morning is truly extraordinary because what you’ve got is no less than the Chancellor admitting that the money that they were pretending was available in their manifesto for their desperate policies is, in fact, money that’s already been accounted for.
Worthless Manifesto
He added, “So that means you’ve got a manifesto from the Tories which isn’t worth the paper on which it is written because it is completely unfunded.”
Hazardous Time
Jeremy Hunt’s praise for Liz Truss’s economic policies has come at a hazardous time for the Chancellor, as his constituency, Godalming and Ash, is high on the list of seats that the Liberal Democrats hope they can steal from the Conservatives at the next election.
Risky Comments
Considering his perilous position, Hunt’s comments risk reigniting debates about the viability, feasibility and potential consequences of what has been dubbed Trussonomics.
Incremental Steps
While Hunt has insisted that he is looking to attempt a more gradual and controlled approach to the steps taken so recklessly by Truss, critics argue that even incremental steps towards these goals could harm the economy, worsen the cost of living crisis and have serious ethical considerations for the poorest in society.
Reelection Uncertain
As the election draws closer, it remains to be seen whether Hunt’s comments may eventually hinder his chance at reelection and of putting Truss’s policies into action.
The post Hunt’s Endorsement of Truss’s Tax Cuts Sparks Economic Criticism first appeared on Now Buzz.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Alexandros Michailidis.