George Osborne knows a thing or two about an omnishambles Budget. Having hiked taxes on pasties back in 2012, the then-chancellor was forced into a humiliating u-turn. So far, his successor Kwasi Kwarteng is holding his ground over his ‘mini Budget’. But how long can that last? Osborne’s verdict is that it might not be long before we get an answer to that question.
‘I think I underestimated the ability of the government to blow itself up in its first few weeks of office’
Speaking on the Andrew Neil show on Channel 4, Osborne said it is now ‘touch and go whether the Chancellor can survive’ after the catastrophic fallout from his unfunded tax cuts:
‘I think I underestimated the ability of the government to blow itself up in its first few weeks of office. In some ways, the financial and economic situation is stabilising and the political situation is actually getting worse for the government as they come into this conference. I think it’s touch and go whether the Chancellor can survive. And, you know, ruthless prime ministers will throw their chancellors under a bus’.
Oh dear. Kwasi Kwarteng is due on stage tomorrow at Tory conference. Let’s hope his words don’t make the markets move quite as much as they did the last time he delivered a speech…
Tory party chairman Jake Berry also popped up on the Andrew Neil show. His mission – to defend the catastrophic fallout from the mini Budget – was hardly an enviable one. Berry was asked when the growth promised by Liz Truss’s government will be delivered.
He stuck to the line that Kwasi Kwarteng will reveal all when he takes to his feet in the Commons. The Chancellor is due to set out a ‘medium-term fiscal plan’ on November 23. Mr S wonders whether that current timetable can really hold…
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