THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Leaked recordings reveal chancellor ‘trying to achieve some of the same things’ as former prime minister
Jeremy Hunt said Liz Truss’s economic ambitions were a “good thing to aim for” and her disastrous mini-budget hadn’t left an impact on the economy, according to two leaked recordings obtained by the Guardian.
The chancellor was recorded at a meeting of students when he said he was “trying to basically achieve some of the same things” as the former prime minister, but that he was doing it “more gradually”. » | Jessica Elgot and Aletha Adu | Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Of ducks and clowns… If it looks like a clown, walks like a clown and talks like a clown, then it just may be a clown! – Mark Alexander
Showing posts with label Jeremy Hunt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeremy Hunt. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Monday, November 20, 2023
The Guardian View on the Tories’ Autumn Statement: Wrong to Reward the Rich and Punish the Poor
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The deepening cracks in the country’s social structure are a clear sign that voters cannot just be left to face the cold winds of the market on their own
Jeremy Hunt will appeal to voters next week, if the leaks are true, on behalf of the Tory party’s worst instincts. The chancellor’s “autumn statement for growth” is said to include inheritance tax cuts that benefit the rich, reduced welfare payments which the poor rely on, and the withdrawal of free medical care from “coasters” who want to “take taxpayers for a ride”. To push the idea that the state should, in a cost of living crisis, reward the rich and punish the poor reveals an appalling disregard for social justice.
The five giants of poverty first identified in the second world war – want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness – are returning in new forms. MPs warn that the babies of poor families are dying for want of a cot as the benefit rules don’t provide for safe sleeping provision for the homeless. Diseases caused by malnutrition and associated with destitution, such as scurvy and rickets, now appear in doctors’ surgeries. With food prices 30% higher than two years ago, the ranks of the hungry are growing. The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown warned only this week that “poverty, as distinct from neglect, parental addictions or domestic violence, is now a principal cause of children being forced into care”. » | Editorial | Friday, November 17, 2023
The Tories have turned sour and toxic. The party is no longer fit to govern the nation. This government must therefore be turfed out of office. The sooner, the better. – © Mark Alexander
Jeremy Hunt will appeal to voters next week, if the leaks are true, on behalf of the Tory party’s worst instincts. The chancellor’s “autumn statement for growth” is said to include inheritance tax cuts that benefit the rich, reduced welfare payments which the poor rely on, and the withdrawal of free medical care from “coasters” who want to “take taxpayers for a ride”. To push the idea that the state should, in a cost of living crisis, reward the rich and punish the poor reveals an appalling disregard for social justice.
The five giants of poverty first identified in the second world war – want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness – are returning in new forms. MPs warn that the babies of poor families are dying for want of a cot as the benefit rules don’t provide for safe sleeping provision for the homeless. Diseases caused by malnutrition and associated with destitution, such as scurvy and rickets, now appear in doctors’ surgeries. With food prices 30% higher than two years ago, the ranks of the hungry are growing. The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown warned only this week that “poverty, as distinct from neglect, parental addictions or domestic violence, is now a principal cause of children being forced into care”. » | Editorial | Friday, November 17, 2023
The Tories have turned sour and toxic. The party is no longer fit to govern the nation. This government must therefore be turfed out of office. The sooner, the better. – © Mark Alexander
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Led by Donkeys: Landlord Jeremy Hunt
Autumn Statement: Hunt Does Not Rule Out Income Tax Cuts
This man is trying to take credit for bringing inflation down. He shouldn’t. Inflation is still raging. Any decrease in inflation so far has happened because energy prices have come down, prices over which he has no control. There has been little or no decrease in inflation as a result of Hunt’s efforts. He is merely trying to hoodwink the electorate.
The main reason for the sharp drop in inflation as measured by the consumer prices index was that the increase in energy prices in October 2022 was not repeated. Gas prices fell by 7% last month, having risen by almost 37% in the same month a year earlier. [Source: The Guradian]Further, if Mr Hunt is wise, if there is any room for tax cuts, he should aim those tax cuts not at the superrich, but at the man in the street. And if economic growth is your goal, encourage spending on consumer goods, not superyachts and private jets! If you bring about tax cuts for the wealthy at this time of great hardship for the many, the elctorate will never forgive either you or the Tories.– © Mark Alexander
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Jeremy Hunt Faces Red Wall Revolt If He Delivers ‘A Budget for the Rich’
THE OBSERVER: The chancellor’s potential inheritance tax cut in Wednesday’s budget would aid millionaires amid a cost of living crisis
Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves Downing Street in September 2023. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Jeremy Hunt faces a backlash from “red wall” Tory MPs if he uses a fiscal windfall of up to £20bn to deliver tax cuts for the rich rather than to help ordinary families with the cost of living, the Observer has been told.
The chancellor and Rishi Sunak are this weekend finalising an autumn statement on Wednesday that could include a major reduction in inheritance tax – four-fifths of which would benefit those with more than £1m at their death, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Each person with more than £1m would receive an average tax cut of £180,000, the IFS states.
After another torrid week for Sunak, in which he sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary and saw the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda declared illegal by the supreme court, he and Hunt are determined to seize the opportunity of Wednesday’s statement to turn the political tide, finally, in the Tories’ favour. » | Michael Savage, Toby Helm and Phillip Inman | Saturday, November 18, 2023
Only an incompetent, irresponsible, uncaring fool would deliver tax cuts for the rich at a time like this! – © Mark Alexnader
Jeremy Hunt faces a backlash from “red wall” Tory MPs if he uses a fiscal windfall of up to £20bn to deliver tax cuts for the rich rather than to help ordinary families with the cost of living, the Observer has been told.
The chancellor and Rishi Sunak are this weekend finalising an autumn statement on Wednesday that could include a major reduction in inheritance tax – four-fifths of which would benefit those with more than £1m at their death, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Each person with more than £1m would receive an average tax cut of £180,000, the IFS states.
After another torrid week for Sunak, in which he sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary and saw the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda declared illegal by the supreme court, he and Hunt are determined to seize the opportunity of Wednesday’s statement to turn the political tide, finally, in the Tories’ favour. » | Michael Savage, Toby Helm and Phillip Inman | Saturday, November 18, 2023
Only an incompetent, irresponsible, uncaring fool would deliver tax cuts for the rich at a time like this! – © Mark Alexnader
Friday, May 26, 2023
Hunt Will Back More Interest Rate Rises Even If It Pushes UK [in]to Recession
THE GUARDIAN: Chancellor to support Bank of England’s decisions because ‘inflation is a source of instability’
Jeremy Hunt said he will back further interest rate rises by the Bank of England, even if it risks plunging the UK into recession, in order to combat soaring inflation.
The chancellor’s comments come after figures this week showed annual inflation in April was higher than expected at 8.7%, raising the prospect of a 13th interest rate rise by the Bank of England. Markets are now predicting that interest rates could climb to 5.5% by the end of the year, up from their current level of 4.5%, putting further pressure on borrowers and the housing market. » | Kalyeena Makortoff | Friday, May 26, 2023
Jeremy Hunt said he will back further interest rate rises by the Bank of England, even if it risks plunging the UK into recession, in order to combat soaring inflation.
The chancellor’s comments come after figures this week showed annual inflation in April was higher than expected at 8.7%, raising the prospect of a 13th interest rate rise by the Bank of England. Markets are now predicting that interest rates could climb to 5.5% by the end of the year, up from their current level of 4.5%, putting further pressure on borrowers and the housing market. » | Kalyeena Makortoff | Friday, May 26, 2023
Tuesday, May 02, 2023
Gove and Hunt, Beware: True-blue Surrey Is Ready to Turf Out the Tories – and You’re Next
THE GUARDIAN: An avalanche is coming. The voters I met are abandoning the Conservatives over lying, cheating and Brexit
“Were you still awake for Raab? Or Hunt? Or Gove?” On the morning after next year’s election we may be asking each other that, remembering the magic early-hours moment in 1997 when Michael Portillo lost his seat in Enfield Southgate, north London, symbolising the earthquake that brought down the Tories after 18 long years. Imagine the shock of Tory A-listers’ seats tumbling in the forever Tory fiefdoms of Surrey.
I had never imagined it, so what I discovered while canvassing with the Liberal Democrats last weekend in Michael Gove’s Surrey Heath constituency was terra incognita to me. Before, there was no point in following the fortunes of forlorn opposition candidates trying to knock down impenetrable home-county blue walls. There is now. » | Polly Toynbee | Tuesday, May 2, 2023
“Were you still awake for Raab? Or Hunt? Or Gove?” On the morning after next year’s election we may be asking each other that, remembering the magic early-hours moment in 1997 when Michael Portillo lost his seat in Enfield Southgate, north London, symbolising the earthquake that brought down the Tories after 18 long years. Imagine the shock of Tory A-listers’ seats tumbling in the forever Tory fiefdoms of Surrey.
I had never imagined it, so what I discovered while canvassing with the Liberal Democrats last weekend in Michael Gove’s Surrey Heath constituency was terra incognita to me. Before, there was no point in following the fortunes of forlorn opposition candidates trying to knock down impenetrable home-county blue walls. There is now. » | Polly Toynbee | Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Friday, December 09, 2022
Jeremy Hunt Sets Out Sweeping Reforms to Financial Sector
THE GUARDIAN: Chancellor says plans will ensure City ‘benefits from dynamic, proportionate regulation’
The chancellor has announced plans to reform and repeal a number of City regulations, including rules originally meant to protect the UK from another financial crisis, in order to “unlock” investment and “turbocharge” growth across the UK.
Jeremy Hunt’s package of more than 30 reforms was announced as he travelled to Edinburgh to meet a group of chief executives from banks and insurers, who the government hopes will be in a stronger position to grow and compete with international peers as a result of the deregulation drive.
The package, known as the “Edinburgh reforms”, is wide-ranging, spanning from plans to consult on a new central bank digital currency to changing tax rules for investment trusts involved in real estate, and reforming rules around short selling – where investors bet that the price of an asset will drop.
The government said it also plans to trial a new trading venue that would operate intermittently but allow companies to raise money from investors before officially floating shares on the public market. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Friday, December 9, 2022
Yet more crap from the Tories! As if the financial sector weren’t already deregulated enough! Those regulations were put in place for a purpose! I fear that Hunt is setting us up well for another financial crisis in the not-too-distant future.
The Conservative Party has screwed up on a grand scale with Brexit. Through that catastrophic mistake, it has put this country in the slow lane re-economic growth. And now, the huge problem is being compounded with yet more mistakes.
I despair of this country! I should have fled this sinking ship several years ago. Alas, unfortunate circumstances—the death of my late partner—came in the way.
In my lifetime, British governments of whatever stripe have never been able to get the economy right. There have been some bright spots here and there, but on the whole, our economy has tanked. The pound sterling certainly has during the last century. Successive governments had a strategy. In economics, it is known as 'managed decline'. – © Mark Alexander
The chancellor has announced plans to reform and repeal a number of City regulations, including rules originally meant to protect the UK from another financial crisis, in order to “unlock” investment and “turbocharge” growth across the UK.
Jeremy Hunt’s package of more than 30 reforms was announced as he travelled to Edinburgh to meet a group of chief executives from banks and insurers, who the government hopes will be in a stronger position to grow and compete with international peers as a result of the deregulation drive.
The package, known as the “Edinburgh reforms”, is wide-ranging, spanning from plans to consult on a new central bank digital currency to changing tax rules for investment trusts involved in real estate, and reforming rules around short selling – where investors bet that the price of an asset will drop.
The government said it also plans to trial a new trading venue that would operate intermittently but allow companies to raise money from investors before officially floating shares on the public market. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Friday, December 9, 2022
Yet more crap from the Tories! As if the financial sector weren’t already deregulated enough! Those regulations were put in place for a purpose! I fear that Hunt is setting us up well for another financial crisis in the not-too-distant future.
The Conservative Party has screwed up on a grand scale with Brexit. Through that catastrophic mistake, it has put this country in the slow lane re-economic growth. And now, the huge problem is being compounded with yet more mistakes.
I despair of this country! I should have fled this sinking ship several years ago. Alas, unfortunate circumstances—the death of my late partner—came in the way.
In my lifetime, British governments of whatever stripe have never been able to get the economy right. There have been some bright spots here and there, but on the whole, our economy has tanked. The pound sterling certainly has during the last century. Successive governments had a strategy. In economics, it is known as 'managed decline'. – © Mark Alexander
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Katerstimmung in Grossbritannien – in einer radikalen Abkehr von der Ära Truss ist nun Sparen angesagt
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Um das Vertrauen der Märkte zurückzugewinnen, bittet der neue britische Schatzkanzler Jeremy Hunt die Reichen zur Kasse, während er den Mindestlohn der Teuerung anpasst. Statt Steuersenkungen erhält Grossbritannien nun Steuererhöhungen auf breiter Front.
Der britische Schatzkanzler Jeremy Hunt will Grossbritannien zurück auf den Pfad der finanzpolitischen Stabilität führen. | Tolga Akmen / EPA
Es ist keine zwei Monate her, da präsentierte der damalige britische Schatzkanzler Kwasi Kwarteng dem Unterhaus ein radikales Wachstumspaket mit den grössten Steuersenkungen seit fünfzig Jahren. Doch das sogenannte «Mini-Budget» erwies sich als gigantisches Fiasko: Da Kwarteng die Steuersenkungen in erster Linie mit neuen Schulden finanzieren wollte, liessen die Investoren die Zinsen für britische Staatsanleihen in die Höhe schnellen und schickten das Pfund auf eine Achterbahnfahrt. Die Marktturbulenzen fegten Kwarteng und wenig später seine Chefin Liz Truss aus dem Amt.
Am Donnerstag schlug Kwartengs Nachfolger Jeremy Hunt bei der Präsentation seines Budgets diametral andere Töne an. Hunt und Premierminister Rishi Sunak hatten nach den Turbulenzen eine Rückkehr zu Stabilität und finanzpolitischer Vernunft in Aussicht gestellt. Nun sprach Hunt von einem Sturm, dem das Land trotzen müsse, und versprach, im Staatshaushalt ein Loch von rund 54 Milliarden Pfund zu stopfen. » | Niklaus Nuspliger, London | Donnerstag, 17. November 2022
Es ist keine zwei Monate her, da präsentierte der damalige britische Schatzkanzler Kwasi Kwarteng dem Unterhaus ein radikales Wachstumspaket mit den grössten Steuersenkungen seit fünfzig Jahren. Doch das sogenannte «Mini-Budget» erwies sich als gigantisches Fiasko: Da Kwarteng die Steuersenkungen in erster Linie mit neuen Schulden finanzieren wollte, liessen die Investoren die Zinsen für britische Staatsanleihen in die Höhe schnellen und schickten das Pfund auf eine Achterbahnfahrt. Die Marktturbulenzen fegten Kwarteng und wenig später seine Chefin Liz Truss aus dem Amt.
Am Donnerstag schlug Kwartengs Nachfolger Jeremy Hunt bei der Präsentation seines Budgets diametral andere Töne an. Hunt und Premierminister Rishi Sunak hatten nach den Turbulenzen eine Rückkehr zu Stabilität und finanzpolitischer Vernunft in Aussicht gestellt. Nun sprach Hunt von einem Sturm, dem das Land trotzen müsse, und versprach, im Staatshaushalt ein Loch von rund 54 Milliarden Pfund zu stopfen. » | Niklaus Nuspliger, London | Donnerstag, 17. November 2022
Royaume-Uni : le gouvernement présente un nouveau budget d’austérité
LE MONDE : Le plan, présenté par le ministre des finances britannique, Jeremy Hunt, prévoit 55 milliards de livres de baisses d’impôts et de coupes budgétaires dans les dépenses publiques. Il doit rassurer les marchés britanniques et la Banque d’Angleterre après l’échec de Liz Truss et en pleine récession.
Le ministre des finances britannique, Jeremy Hunt, quitte le 11 Downing Street pour rejoindre le Parlement à Londres, jeudi 17 novembre 2022. ALASTAIR GRANT / AP
« Stabilité », « croissance » et « services publics » : tels étaient les mots d’ordre du ministre des finances britannique, Jeremy Hunt, qui a dévoilé, jeudi 17 novembre, un budget d’austérité pour redresser les finances du Royaume-Uni. Celui-ci prévoit 55 milliards de livres de hausses d’impôts et de coupes dans la dépense publique, bien que le pays soit déjà entré en récession.
« C’est un plan de stabilité équilibré », « j’ai essayé d’être juste en demandant à ceux qui ont plus de contribuer plus », a fait valoir M. Hunt, au ton sobre, devant le Parlement. « Le Royaume-Uni, comme d’autres pays, est maintenant en récession » selon l’OBR, l’organisme public de prévisions budgétaires, a fait valoir le ministre, et son produit intérieur brut va encore baisser de 1,4 % en 2023. Jeremy Hunt a dévoilé « trois priorités : la stabilité, la croissance et les services publics ». La stabilité, après les turbulences financières du précédent gouvernement, vient en haut de la liste, et avec elle la lutte contre l’inflation, « qui touche davantage les plus pauvres ». » | Le Monde avec AFP | jeudi 17 novembre 2022
« Stabilité », « croissance » et « services publics » : tels étaient les mots d’ordre du ministre des finances britannique, Jeremy Hunt, qui a dévoilé, jeudi 17 novembre, un budget d’austérité pour redresser les finances du Royaume-Uni. Celui-ci prévoit 55 milliards de livres de hausses d’impôts et de coupes dans la dépense publique, bien que le pays soit déjà entré en récession.
« C’est un plan de stabilité équilibré », « j’ai essayé d’être juste en demandant à ceux qui ont plus de contribuer plus », a fait valoir M. Hunt, au ton sobre, devant le Parlement. « Le Royaume-Uni, comme d’autres pays, est maintenant en récession » selon l’OBR, l’organisme public de prévisions budgétaires, a fait valoir le ministre, et son produit intérieur brut va encore baisser de 1,4 % en 2023. Jeremy Hunt a dévoilé « trois priorités : la stabilité, la croissance et les services publics ». La stabilité, après les turbulences financières du précédent gouvernement, vient en haut de la liste, et avec elle la lutte contre l’inflation, « qui touche davantage les plus pauvres ». » | Le Monde avec AFP | jeudi 17 novembre 2022
Monday, October 17, 2022
‘Hunt’s Running the Show’: The Day Power Drained Away from Liz Truss
THE GUARDIAN: Truss’s decline from shiny new prime minister to leader in name only continues, the last 24 hours underlining just how weak she is
When it was announced that Penny Mordaunt had offered to stand in for Liz Truss in response to an urgent Commons question over the economic crisis on Monday, some Conservative MPs thought it was a joke.
“Why is she asking one of her biggest rivals for the job to take her place? She’ll totally show her up,” one said. It was hard to see the cabinet minister’s performance on Monday afternoon as anything other than an audition for the top job.
Mordaunt did little to dispel that impression as she landed punchy attacks on the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, roused the depressed Tory troops, and offered an apology to the country for the instability caused by the prime minister’s dramatic climbdown. Truss had done none of these things publicly, though probably should have done all of them.
Nevertheless, it was Truss’s refusal to show up and face MPs herself – despite unleashing chaos on the party, the economy and the country – that most riled MPs. Mordaunt repeatedly assured them there was a “genuine reason” why she was not there. In one particularly bizarre exchange, she insisted: “The prime minister is not under a desk.” » | Pippa Crerar and Aubrey Allegretti | Monday, Octobber 17, 2022
When it was announced that Penny Mordaunt had offered to stand in for Liz Truss in response to an urgent Commons question over the economic crisis on Monday, some Conservative MPs thought it was a joke.
“Why is she asking one of her biggest rivals for the job to take her place? She’ll totally show her up,” one said. It was hard to see the cabinet minister’s performance on Monday afternoon as anything other than an audition for the top job.
Mordaunt did little to dispel that impression as she landed punchy attacks on the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, roused the depressed Tory troops, and offered an apology to the country for the instability caused by the prime minister’s dramatic climbdown. Truss had done none of these things publicly, though probably should have done all of them.
Nevertheless, it was Truss’s refusal to show up and face MPs herself – despite unleashing chaos on the party, the economy and the country – that most riled MPs. Mordaunt repeatedly assured them there was a “genuine reason” why she was not there. In one particularly bizarre exchange, she insisted: “The prime minister is not under a desk.” » | Pippa Crerar and Aubrey Allegretti | Monday, Octobber 17, 2022
Jeremy Hunt’s Statement on Medium-term Fiscal Plan: Key Points at a Glance
Read the article here.
Jeremy Hunt’s economic plan turns the clock back to austerity: UK chancellor’s tightening of fiscal policy will lead to weaker growth and a deeper recession »
Saturday, October 15, 2022
Health and Teaching Unions Aghast at Jeremy Hunt’s New Era of Tory Austerity
THE OBSERVER: The chancellor sparked alarm among trade union leaders by promising ‘very difficult decisions’ for government budgets
Jeremy Hunt outside BBC Broadcasting House in central London on Saturday. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Health chiefs, public sector unions and teaching leaders expressed horror on Saturday after the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, appeared to usher in a fresh era of austerity, and the threat of more misery for cash-strapped hospitals and schools.
In his first interviews since dramatically replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, Hunt provoked widespread alarm by promising “very difficult decisions” for government budgets.
The NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned the prospect of further cuts was “incredibly grim”.
The head of the largest teaching union for England and Wales denounced Hunt’s attempt to placate the financial markets as “disastrous” and “scary” for schools, while another teaching union, NASUWT, said deeper cuts would cause “immeasurable damage to children’s learning”. » | Mark Townsend, Home Affairs Editor, and Michael Savage, Policy Editor | Saturday, October 15, 2022
Jeremy Hunt is another Tory w*****r who is destined to fail! He has neither the strength nor the experience for this job. I am going to stick my neck out and state that he will fail.
The Tories have themselves created the hell that we are now living through. Why? Because of the fantasy of the benefits of Brexit. Brexit was, is and will always remain the stupidest of ideas. Anyone who truly thought that leaving the biggest and greatest single market this world has ever known—The Single Market—would bring benefits and prosperity to this weakened, isolated middle-ranking nation was either deluded, lied to or had sawdust for brains! Because of Brexit, we actually deserve all the pain we will have to live through!
Brexit will almost inevitably lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom. It is to be hoped that Scotland under Nicola Sturgeon’s superior leadership will be able to bring Scotland’s independence about. Scottish independence will/would be a role model for the rest of the Celtic fringe. Westminster is clearly no longer working for Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
As for England, Liz Truss needs to retire to her kitchen and start baking cookies. She has made a dog’s dinner of the UK economy. She and that Kwasi Kwarteng. Both of them deserve to be consigned to the dustbin of history!
If the government is strapped for cash, which it so clearly is, start taxing the superrich, the billionaire class, and bring in a windfall tax on the energy companies. For Christ’s sake, don’t expect the people, das Volk, to live through even more pain than they have already been forced to live through by successive incompetent Tory governments!
As I have said many times before on this blog, the Tories need to be consigned to the dustbin of history—and with dispatch!—just as the Whigs were consigned to the dustbin of history before them. The Party is made up of backward-thinking people, old fogeys, and fossils. This country needs a business-friendly party, for sure; but a forward-thinking one. A party which believes in equity and is Europe-friendly. This country needs to be placed in the heart of European politics. We, as a nation, have so much to offer Europeans; and Europeans have so much to offer us.
Outside of the European Union, this country will become poorer, its economy will go on shrinking, and it will become ever-more disunited. Of these things, I will assure you right here and now! — © Mark Alexander
Health chiefs, public sector unions and teaching leaders expressed horror on Saturday after the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, appeared to usher in a fresh era of austerity, and the threat of more misery for cash-strapped hospitals and schools.
In his first interviews since dramatically replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, Hunt provoked widespread alarm by promising “very difficult decisions” for government budgets.
The NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned the prospect of further cuts was “incredibly grim”.
The head of the largest teaching union for England and Wales denounced Hunt’s attempt to placate the financial markets as “disastrous” and “scary” for schools, while another teaching union, NASUWT, said deeper cuts would cause “immeasurable damage to children’s learning”. » | Mark Townsend, Home Affairs Editor, and Michael Savage, Policy Editor | Saturday, October 15, 2022
Jeremy Hunt is another Tory w*****r who is destined to fail! He has neither the strength nor the experience for this job. I am going to stick my neck out and state that he will fail.
The Tories have themselves created the hell that we are now living through. Why? Because of the fantasy of the benefits of Brexit. Brexit was, is and will always remain the stupidest of ideas. Anyone who truly thought that leaving the biggest and greatest single market this world has ever known—The Single Market—would bring benefits and prosperity to this weakened, isolated middle-ranking nation was either deluded, lied to or had sawdust for brains! Because of Brexit, we actually deserve all the pain we will have to live through!
Brexit will almost inevitably lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom. It is to be hoped that Scotland under Nicola Sturgeon’s superior leadership will be able to bring Scotland’s independence about. Scottish independence will/would be a role model for the rest of the Celtic fringe. Westminster is clearly no longer working for Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
As for England, Liz Truss needs to retire to her kitchen and start baking cookies. She has made a dog’s dinner of the UK economy. She and that Kwasi Kwarteng. Both of them deserve to be consigned to the dustbin of history!
If the government is strapped for cash, which it so clearly is, start taxing the superrich, the billionaire class, and bring in a windfall tax on the energy companies. For Christ’s sake, don’t expect the people, das Volk, to live through even more pain than they have already been forced to live through by successive incompetent Tory governments!
As I have said many times before on this blog, the Tories need to be consigned to the dustbin of history—and with dispatch!—just as the Whigs were consigned to the dustbin of history before them. The Party is made up of backward-thinking people, old fogeys, and fossils. This country needs a business-friendly party, for sure; but a forward-thinking one. A party which believes in equity and is Europe-friendly. This country needs to be placed in the heart of European politics. We, as a nation, have so much to offer Europeans; and Europeans have so much to offer us.
Outside of the European Union, this country will become poorer, its economy will go on shrinking, and it will become ever-more disunited. Of these things, I will assure you right here and now! — © Mark Alexander
Friday, October 14, 2022
Jeremy Hunt Replaces Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer
"The Prime Minister is now the prisoner of the markets."
Jeremy Hunt will be the fourth chancellor of the exchequer in four months, and will have 'total authority over the Prime Minister.'
Former Treasury minister, David Gauke tells Ruth Davidson what the market reaction has been to an expected u-turn on last month's mini-budget.
Liz Truss appoints Jeremy Hunt as chancellor after sacking Kwarteng: Former leadership contender is back in cabinet as PM tries to reach out to other sections of Tory party »
Was that it? Eight-minute Liz Truss press conference will not steady ship: Prime minister took only four questions but showed lack of contrition in lightning fast appearance that will not have secured goodwill »
Four bruising questions but even fewer answers from Liz Truss: She picked favoured reporters and offered repetitious platitudes to pointed inquiries. How long can PM last? »
Three weeks of chaos that cost more than Kwarteng’s job – in numbers: On 30 September, the then chancellor’s mini-budget triggered a chain of events that led to a dramatic downfall »
Jeremy Hunt will be the fourth chancellor of the exchequer in four months, and will have 'total authority over the Prime Minister.'
Former Treasury minister, David Gauke tells Ruth Davidson what the market reaction has been to an expected u-turn on last month's mini-budget.
Liz Truss appoints Jeremy Hunt as chancellor after sacking Kwarteng: Former leadership contender is back in cabinet as PM tries to reach out to other sections of Tory party »
Was that it? Eight-minute Liz Truss press conference will not steady ship: Prime minister took only four questions but showed lack of contrition in lightning fast appearance that will not have secured goodwill »
Four bruising questions but even fewer answers from Liz Truss: She picked favoured reporters and offered repetitious platitudes to pointed inquiries. How long can PM last? »
Three weeks of chaos that cost more than Kwarteng’s job – in numbers: On 30 September, the then chancellor’s mini-budget triggered a chain of events that led to a dramatic downfall »
Friday, June 21, 2019
The Guardian View on the Tory Leadership Election: Things Fall Apart
On Thursday evening, after five ballots in eight days among Conservative MPs, the 10 original would-be successors to Theresa May were finally reduced to two: Boris Johnson and, trailing a distant second, the foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. The two will now face the Tory membership before one of them emerges next month in a postal ballot as the new party leader. For the first time, a prime minister of the UK will be chosen by party grassroots activists. This means the new leader will largely be the choice of middle-class white men over 55 in the south of England who support the death penalty, oppose income redistribution and back a no-deal Brexit. » | Editorial | Thursday, June 20, 2019
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