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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was ridiculed for his “condescending” attempt to explain the resurrection inflation with a pile of empty coffee cups.
A Treasury video showed Mr Hunt ordering a flat white before explaining the skyrocketing cost of living, he was criticized for maths, punctuation and not mentioning Brexit or influence Liz Truss‘economic policies.
The chancellor held up a mug marked £2.56 and said a year ago a coffee cost “around £2.50” before holding up another with £2.86 on it – which he described as “almost £3 a cup “.
Mr Hunt blamed inflation of “around 10 per cent” on supply chain constraints after Covid, the Ukrainian war and high energy prices. High inflation meant “the pound in your pocket is worth less than it used to be”, he said.
London School of Economics media professor Charlie Beckett said the video, produced by the Treasury, was an example of “the Conservatives using public money to create propaganda”.
Former Tory education minister Kit Malthouse also questioned the content of the message, commenting: “A stash of money?”
One Twitter post criticized the “condescending didactic tone of the mid-20th century”, while Professor Steven Fielding of the University of Nottingham said: “I hope he recycled all those cups he wasted.”
Politics professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University of London said the video was “a classic of the genre”.
He added in the tweet that he “particularly liked last year’s £2.56 cup of coffee described as ‘around £2.50’, as opposed to this year’s £2.86 which was described as ‘almost £3.00’. (PS, while I’m at it, ‘People’s Priorities’ is missing an apostrophe)”.
Mr Hunt vowed on Wednesday to tackle the “nightmare” of high inflation as the latest official data showed it eased slightly in December – from 10.7 per cent to 10.5 per cent.
“High inflation is a nightmare for family budgets, destroys business investment and leads to strikes, so no matter how hard it is, we must stick to our plan to reduce it,” the Chancellor said.
Mr Hunt said the drop was “welcome” but said it was important to maintain fiscal restraint. “We have a plan to go further and halve inflation this year, reduce debt and grow the economy – but it is essential that we take the necessary tough decisions and deliver on the plan.”
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said persistently high inflation – which remains close to a 40-year peak – showed why ministers needed to step back and start negotiating the pay dispute, which had sparked a wave of public sector strikes.
“Inflation remains higher than the wage increases most workers receive – and much higher than wages on offer Rishi Sunak he is trying to impose on millions of workers without fair negotiations,” said the union leader.
Mr Hunt is reportedly preparing to announce a slashed budget without any tax cuts in March as he tries to balance the books after the financial turmoil caused by Ms Truss’s short-lived premiership.
Some disillusioned Tory MPs who backed the Truss government’s plan for radical tax cuts, which sparked panic in the market, are preparing to take up the “growth” agenda again.
Some senior figures in Truss’ cabinet are expected to gather in the office of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Simon Clarke last night to launch the Conservative Growth Group.
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