‘You Sound In Denial’: Nick Robinson Savages Cabinet Minister Over State Of The Economy

BBC presenter Nick Robinson accused a cabinet minister of being “in denial” after she tried to paint a rosy picture of the UK economy.

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, insisted there were positive signs amid the gloomy news about soaring government borrowing costs, rising inflation, slugging growth and the falling value of the pound.

On Radio 4′s Today programme, Robinson told her: “Consumer confidence is down, business confidence is down and growth is down and inflation is going up.”

But Nandy said: “We inherited an economy where it was hard to see who had confidence, both to invest and particularly for consumers to feel that they could spend, given the huge fluctuations that we’d seen, particularly after the Liz Truss/Kwasi Kwarteng Budget.

“The chancellor has been absolutely clear that we are not going back to those bad old days. We’ve had two interest rate cuts since she became chancellor and we have worked very hard to restore economic credibility.

“Only a few months after we took office we were able to welcome investors from all over the world, who announced £63 billion-worth of investment in the UK economy. That is a huge vote of confidence, and we’re not only confident that we are on track, but the OECD is confident that we are on track to become the fastest growing economy in Europe.”

Robinson hit back: “There’s a danger, isn’t there, that you sound in denial. We can’t find an economist who would come on this programme to say that you will not either have to put taxes up, cut spending or break your borrowing rules.

“There isn’t an economist on the planet who believes you’ve got an alternative to doing one of those things, and yet you come on the programme and say it’s all going swimmingly.”

Nandy replied: “I’m not for a moment saying it’s all going swimmingly because my measure of success is whether people feel better off. I think there isn’t a single person in this country who said they felt better off after 14 years of Tory government, and our intention is that in the next few years people will start to feel significantly better off in their own lives and for the prospects for their children.”

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NHS Strikes: Mishal Husain Roasts Steve Barclay By Noting Obvious Contradiction In Government’s Stance

BBC Radio 4′s Mishal Husain suggested the government has no choice but to resolve NHS strikes in a tense interview with the health secretary this morning.

The Today programme host pointed out that – just as junior doctors and consultants are about to go on strike simultaneously – the impact on NHS patients is getting worse.

Husain said the latest figures show the waiting lists to be at record levels at 7.6 million people waiting to start routine treatment.

But, she noted that prime minister Rishi Sunak made it one of his five pledges to voters to bring the number down.

The presenter asked: “How can you do that without resolving doctors’ strikes?”

Barclay replied: “There’s no question that the strikes are having an impact in terms of harming patients.

“Now, we have been making progress through our recovery plan, backed with £8 billion of investment.”

He said they had eliminated the two-year wait for treatment, and “virtually” eliminated the 18-month wait.

Husain pointed out: “The overall figure is at a record number!”

Barclay replied: “No, no, I’m accepting that the overall number on the waiting lists has increased.”

He went on to say that the government has boosted the NHS’s capacity with community diagnostic centres.

But Husain just asked again: “What’s your plan to end the doctors’ strike?”

The health secretary insisted that the government has offered a “fair and final” resolution, accepted the pay review bodies’ suggestion for a pay increase and implemented the BMA union’s “number one ask” to change pension and taxation.

“But the strikes are going on,” Husain cut in. “I think most people would probably look at this and think that your plan is basically based around hoping that the doctors give up. There’s absolutely no sign of that.

“How can you possibly meet your waiting list pledge, the PM’s waiting list pledge, without resolving this strike?”

Barclay said the government had also promised to bring down inflation, and that was another pledge Sunak made in January.

He also claimed that the strikers’ pay rise request was too high, and he had stay fair to other public sector workers.

Husain then tried once more, pointing out: “You’ve got a specific pledge on waiting lists to bring them down – and they’re going up.”

But, the health secretary just suggested once again the pay rise request from junior doctors is not “fair” for others.

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