"If you’re uncomfortable with me using all these statistics on growth how would you like me to measure your performance as the Department for Growth?”.
Grant Shapps, who serves as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, lost his cool at an appearance at a select committee earlier this week, where he got annoyed at having facts and figures thrown at him to assess the UK’s economic performance.
Labour MP Darren Jones grilled Shapps on the state of the UK economy in comparison to other countries, and asked the Tory minister whether he accepted figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that suggested the UK economy has been in decline since 2015.
Jones accused Shapps of being ‘rude and inappropriate’ for interrupting him and not letting him finish his questions.
During the exchange between the pair, Jones said: “Let’s make reference to other countries as you wish to do. Based on the OECD figures among the G20, apparently it’s only the United Kingdom that will have a smaller economy in 2025 based on current projections than any other G20 country than from before the pandemic. Why do you think that is?”
Shapps replied: “Because you’re throwing figures at me when I respond for example that we’ll have the fastest growth this year, you move on to a different statistic, I’m not sure this adds a great deal to the wealth of knowledge.”
Jones replied: “The wealth of knowledge is based on independent data that’s the only thing we have reference to and so is your performance, again are you now refuting the OECD’s economic outlook as well as the ONS and the OBR?”
Shapps said he would come armed with a set of figures at his next attendance.
Jones then went on to tell Shapps that he didn’t seem to want a discussion based on data around the performance of his department in terms of economic growth.
He added: “When you arrived as secretary of state you did a little video for your Twitter account from the round lifts where you called the Business Department the ‘Department for Growth’, if you’re uncomfortable with me using all these statistics on growth how would you like me to measure your performance as the Department for Growth?”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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