Jeremy Hunt does not accept Truss mini-budget caused long-term damage

Published

3 years ago

November 24, 2022

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Jeremy Hunt has said he regrets the turbulence caused by Liz Truss’s mini-budget but he does not believe it inflicted long-term economic damage.

The independent Resolution Foundation estimated the mistakes made by the former prime minister cost the UK £30bn while Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, called it one of a series of economic “own goals” that has led to the UK’s bleak outlook.

But Mr Hunt told Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme: “I don’t recognise those Resolution Foundation figures.”

He added: “I don’t believe there was a long term impact because the measures they introduced were reversed so quickly.

“I think what the world wanted to see was that the United Kingdom was not going to spend money it didn’t have and was committed to repaying its debts. And Rishi Sunak and myself have given them that reassurance.”

However, he said he accepts “we’ve had a rocky period in the last couple of months”.

“I wish that we hadn’t had what happened with the mini-budget and all the turbulence that happened there”, he said.

When Ms Truss announced a raft of unfunded tax cuts in September, it contributed to the financial chaos which sent the markets into freefall, the value of the pound plummeting, mortgage rates soaring and forced the Bank of England to intervene to stop pension funds collapsing.

This ultimately led to her downfall as Mr Hunt was drafted in to reverse almost all the economic policies that won her the Tory leadership election triggered by Boris Johnson’s resignation.

Mr Hunt declined to apologise for the turmoil, saying “actions speak louder than words”.

“I think we have demonstrated that we think what happened was wrong. We’ve corrected it and we’ve put the country back on the right track,” he said.

The chancellor presented his highly-anticipated autumn statement to parliament last Thursday, littered with stealth taxes and curbs on government spending amounting to £55bn in an attempt to plug the black hole in the public finances.

The measures will see around 55% of households worse off, according to the Treasury’s own analysis, while the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned the disposable incomes of UK households would fall by 7.1% over the next two years – the biggest drop on record.

Mr Hunt has accepted “challenging times” lie ahead but insisted his tax hikes were not “just misery for misery sake”.

“It was to make sure that we really have that bright future that everyone wants,” he said.

He repeated his insistence that the problems facing the UK economy are global, as he dismissed forecasts about the hit to trade caused by Brexit.

The OBR have forecast Brexit will cause a 4% GDP reduction over the longer term, amounting to about £100 billion in lost trade and approximately £40 billion in tax revenue.

But Mr Hunt said he did not accept these figures.

“I don’t accept Brexit is the cause of the big economic difficulties we face,” he said.

“Brexit is a choice that Britain as a country made. And whether we will make a success of it or not is a choice that we now have to make.

“The biggest reason for the decline in our economic picture is high international energy prices.”

Mr Hunt was speaking in Birmingham after meeting apprentices working on the HS2 programme.

Some Conservative MPs have spoke out against the expensive project, with senior backbencher Esther McVey saying she won’t back his tax rises unless the project is scrapped.

However, Mr Hunt said the project was integral to the Conservative’s levelling up agenda.

“We aren’t going to compromise on the really big projects that make a difference to our economy. And HS2 is one of those.”

World

Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

Published

7 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.

Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.

The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.

“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.

“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.

Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.

They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.

Orsi said it was worth a fine.

Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.

“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.

Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.

“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.

He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.

The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.

While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:

“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.

However, the packed streets showed many disagree.

At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.

The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.

The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.

“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.

Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.

Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.

World

Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Published

7 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.

Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.

Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.