Jeremy Hunt claims people vote Tory because they are ‘sensible with the economy’

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor of the Exchequer who unveiled his “budget for long-term growth” on Wednesday, seems to have forgotten the disastrous actions of former boss Liz Truss, as he appeared on BBC Breakfast and Sky News to claim people vote for the Conservative Party because “they trust us to be sensible with the economy to take the right long-term decisions”.

Of course, Truss – who now claims the “deep state” sabotaged her premiership – and ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng took a very “sensible” decision with their so-called ‘mini-budget’, spooking the markets and causing the pound to plummet.

It was more of a short-term decision than a long-term one, though, as Hunt replaced Kwarteng and carried out a U-turn, and Truss became the shortest-serving prime minister in UK political history.

Hunt’s comments come after a raft of economic measures were announced in the Commons on Wednesday, including a 2p cut to national insurance, funding a £3.4 billion productivity plan for the NHS, and scrapping the controversial “non-dom” tax status (which allowed individuals who are resident in the UK but do not have a permanent home here to only pay tax on UK earnings) to replace it with a new system from April 2025.

He said: “We stick to our plan with a budget for long-term growth. It delivers more investment, more jobs, better public services and lower taxes … a plan to grow the economy versus no plan; a plan for better public services versus no plan; a plan to make work pay versus no plan.

“Growth up, jobs up and taxes down.”

In response, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the budget “the last desperate act of a party that has failed”.

He said: “Britain deserves a government who are ready to take tough decisions, to give our public services an immediate cash injection, to stick to fiscal rules without complaint, to fight for the living standards of working people and to deliver a sustainable plan for growth.”

And now, when Hunt did the media round on Thursday morning and boasted about “sensible” economic decisions from his party, he was met with ridicule online:

As for Truss, in addition to blaming the “deep state” for her departure from No 10, she’s also pointed the finger at the “left-wing economic establishment” and claimed it’s “unfair” for people to consider her responsible for a rise in interest rates.

Her book, set to tackle “disastrous ideas” in politics (yes, really) is out next month.

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