11 NOVEMBER 2022 | NEWS
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer has spoken out following his sacking and the failure of his economic plans.
Kwasi Kwarteng, who was sacked as Chancellor of the Exchequer by former Prime Minister Liz Truss, appeared in an interview with TalkTV’s Tom Newton-Dunn in his first media appearance since his departure. In a wide-ranging interview, the former Chancellor discussed his dismissal, the ‘mini-Budget’ and the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
In a discussion about the doomed ‘mini-Budget’, which eventually led to the demise of the Liz Truss’ premiership following market turmoil, Kwasi Kwarteng claimed to have warned the former Prime Minister about trying to implement her ideas too fast and told her to “slow down”.
The sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng was followed by the resignation of Liz Truss only eleven days later, leaving her as the United Kingdom’s shortest-serving Prime Minister.
In the TalkTV interview, Mr Kwarteng stated: “She said, ‘Well, I’ve only got two years’ and I said, ‘You will have two months if you carry on like this’. And that is, I’m afraid, what happened.”
He continued: “I think the Prime Minister was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast. But I think it was too quick.
“I think the strategic goal was right. But I think we should have had a much more measured approach.” He also said of Liz Truss’ ideals: “Her drive was 100 percent the right thing, but I think we needed a better tactical plan to deliver what she wanted.”
But he also said some of the blame should not be placed at Liz Truss’ door, stating: “It wasn’t that the national debt was created by Liz Truss’s 44 days in government.” He did however add: “I do feel sorry, actually, for the people who are going through this difficult time in terms of re-mortgaging.
“I’m not going to wash my hands of what we did. I think the strategic goals were the right thing, but as I said, the delivery and implementation, there was no real tactical plan, there was no real timetable for it and I think we should have done that.”
On the topic of his sacking, Mr Kwarteng claimed he found out about the Prime Minister’s intention to fire him from his Special Adviser following a tweet by a journalist from The Times. He also said that Ms Truss was “distressed and emotional” about her position in the meeting when she dismissed him.
The former Chancellor claimed to have warned Ms Truss that the decision to relieve him from his duties would see her own position in jeopardy and that her premiership would only survive for “three or four weeks” if she made that decision. He then said: “Little did I know it was only going to be six days.”
Mr Kwarteng added: “She can’t fire me for just implementing what she campaigned on. And, you know, we had a conversation.
“And I think it was very much the view that somehow she would survive if I took the fall on that.”
On the new Prime Minister and his economic plans, Mr Kwarteng said that he would support the new Prime Minister, but warned: “You’re not going to grow an economy – or incentivise economic growth – by putting up our taxes.”
Why didn’t the former Chancellor and the ex Prime minister consult the Cabinet before announcing their ‘ growth’ ideas ? Both of them abused their power and paid the ultimate price !