Tory MP’s Kevin Hollinrake and Justin Tomlinson reflect on Tory chaos.
TORY MP Kevin Hollinrake saysJeremy Hunt being named as the new Chancellor is ‘a step in the right direction’ following the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng.
Appearing on GB News, Mr Hollinrake said: “There’s still work to be done yet, but I think Jeremy Hut was very good this morning in terms of setting out what he would do to bring back some fiscal discipline, some tax and spending discipline. It is a step in the right direction.”
Mr Hollinrake’s colleague, the Tory MP, Justin Tomlinson, said he had sympathy for the Prime Minister’s position. Speaking to Alastair Stewart on GB News, Mr Tomlinson said: “We’ve had a very, very poor few weeks. We’ve lost the narrative. We’re on the back foot and you could see the strain on the Prime Minister when she was doing thaT Hastily arranged press conference.”
“Jeremy Hunt is a good choice. He’s a successful businessman in his own right. He’s calm. If I was advising the Prime Minister, in hindsight, too much was done too quickly. We have a country that’s had to navigate Brexit, COVID, leadership contests, and now the Russian aggression in Ukraine with the impact on energy prices and cost of living. And frankly, less is more at the moment now.”
Looking ahead to what is to come, economics expert Professor Tony Travers told GB News: “One of the things that the Government’s been saying relentlessly is there is international turmoil. That is true, but we should not underplay the extent to which the Government has added to it in a unique way for the UK. So given the position of UK public finances, which is not good, and made worse by the tax cuts and the need to convince the international markets that in a sense, the UK is under stable and consistent management, is hugely important, particularly for everybody’s mortgage payments, because interest rates are affected by this and that’s all yet really to hit.
“So I think what the government is at the moment involved in is a desperate attempt at calming things down. The appointment of Jeremy Hunt will undoubtedly help that but if in the end, the markets are not convinced that even now, he and the Prime Minister can’t get a real grip on the economy., then the gilt rate yields and the percentage on those is going to go up. Sterling could yet hit parity with the dollar, so everything’s still very much up for grabs.”
