"Did Labour want that inheritance? Absolutely not."
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones took apart a Tory MP on the BBC Question Time panel yesterday for wrecking the economy and leaving Labour with a disastrous inheritance.
Jones appeared on the panel as he defended the Labour government’s first budget after its election win, saying that difficult choices had to be made after the government was left with a £22bn financial black hole by the last Tory government.
As Tory MP Andrew Griffith took aim at the budget, Jones replied: “I worked well with Andrew Griffith on the Science and Technology Select Committee.
“Andrew was Economic Secretary to the Treasury when Liz Truss was Prime Minister, what happened then?
“When you ignored the OBR, sacked the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, when you announced £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, when you sent the markets spiralling, mortgage rates going through the roof, and completely discredited your party and the economy.
“That is the mess that Labour are having to deal with.
“That’s why this is an honest budget.
“Did Labour want that inheritance? Absolutely not.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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