Nadhim Zahawi and Simon Clarke were absent from Whitehall when the rate hike was announced

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The chancellor and his deputy are nowhere to be found! Nadhim Zahawi and Simon Clarke were absent from Whitehall when the rate hike was announced

  • Neither the Chancellor nor Simon Clarke were in Whitehall yesterday for the rate hike
  • The Bank of England has announced the biggest rise in interest rates in 27 years
  • Mr Zahawi insisted: “For me… there is no such thing as holidays and no work.”

Interest rates are soaring and a deep recession looms, but the two top finance ministers were nowhere to be seen yesterday despite the grim warnings.

Not even the chancellor Nadhim Zahawi not even Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke was in Whitehall when he did Bank of England yesterday announced the biggest rate hike in 27 years.

Mr Zahawi defended his absence, insisting that “for me… there is no holiday and no work”.

He said: “I’ve never had that in the private sector, not in government. Ask any entrepreneur and they will tell you that.”

Mr Zahawi, who was due to speak to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey yesterday afternoon, added that “the responsibility of the public service means you can never switch off, so I had calls and meetings every day”.

Neither Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi (pictured above last month) nor Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke were in Whitehall when the Bank of England announced its biggest rate hike in 27 years yesterday

A Treasury source said Mr Clarke was not in the office but was in London “working”.

Bank policymakers raised interest rates to 1.75 percent from 1.25 percent, the biggest single increase since 1995, as they tried to control runaway inflation.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation will hit 13.3 per cent in October, the highest in more than 42 years, if regulator Ofgem raises the price cap on energy bills to around £3,450, the bank’s forecasters said.

The bank predicts that soaring energy prices will push the economy into a five-quarter recession – with gross domestic product (GDP) shrinking in the fourth quarter of this year and every quarter through 2023.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Zahawi admitted that “the announcements will be worrying for a lot of people”.

A Treasury source said Mr Clarke (pictured above) was not in the office last month but was in London ¿working¿.

A Treasury source said Mr Clarke (pictured above last month) was not in the office but was in London ‘working’.

“We are taking important steps to control inflation through a strong, independent monetary policy, responsible tax and spending decisions, and reforms to boost our productivity and growth,” he added.

‘The economy has recovered strongly from the pandemic, with the fastest growth in the G7 last year, and I am confident that the measures we are taking mean we can also overcome these global challenges.’

Mr Zahawi took over as chancellor last month after Rishi Sunak resigned. The day after his appointment, he informed the Prime Minister that he had to resign.

He ran in the Tory leadership contest but was kicked out by Tory MPs in the first round of voting after he failed to get the required minimum of 30 supporters.

Mr Zahawi officially confirmed Liz Truss as the next leader at the weekend. Mr Clarke is another of her supporters.

The chancellor praised the foreign minister’s “encouraging” economic approach, but at the same time indicated that Mr. Sunak is a “loser.”

“Liz understands that the status quo is not an option in times of crisis,” Mr Zahawi wrote in the newspaper article. “We need an ‘encouraging’ attitude to the economy, not a ‘disastrous’ one, to deal with life’s problems and challenges on the world stage.

‘Liz will overturn outdated economic orthodoxy and run our economy in a conservative way.’

Boris Johnson is also on holiday.

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