Rishi Sunak ridiculed by senior Tory for ‘serving tea to Jill Biden’ as economic pledges fail
Rishi Sunak is under pressure from inside the Conservative Party over his ability to deliver his five pledges after his Chancellor admitted the target to halve inflation might not be met.
Nervousness over the UK’s economic outlook was heightened when the latest GDP figures published on Friday showed weak growth for the first three months of 2023, held back by strikes and the cost of living crisis.
Senior Tories urged the Prime Minister to get a grip on his government’s key agenda rather than “serving tea to Jill Biden” – in reference to Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty hosting the US first lady at Downing Street over the coronation weekend.
Conservative insiders are also concerned that Jeremy Hunt is taking a too-cautious approach to the economy and does not want to introduce tax cuts until inflation is brought under control.
After the Bank of England raised interest rates for the 12th consecutive time, to 4.5 per cent, on Thursday, the Chancellor warned that there “has never been anything automatic about hitting” the target to halve inflation this year, despite forecasts that it will be met.
A senior Tory MP told i: “So far we’ve seen spin and pledges and all this stuff, and scones with Jill Biden and all that nonsense, the mask is slipping.
“The view from some of the people I’ve been chatting to in the City is the economy is screwed, and he’s too busy pouring tea and feeding scones to Jill Biden, why doesn’t he get back and do the day job?”
An ex-Cabinet minister suggested that Mr Sunak had embraced an aggressive approach to social issues to compensate for the failure to cut taxes and economic regulations.
They said: “They’re scared of being called social democrats so they’ve brought in a lot of socially conservative policies, while keeping their left-wing economic policies. But that’s not what people want, they want proper Conservative economics, the free market.”
Mr Sunak has staked his premiership on meeting his five pledges – three of which are economic, including halving inflation by the end of 2023, growing the economy and reducing national debt.
While the UK is still on course to avoid recession in 2023, GDP figures showed growth is stubbornly sluggish, particularly in contrast to other leading economies.
Growth was just 0.1 per cent for the first quarter of this year, and in March the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent, fuelled by poor motoring and retail sales, affected by bad weather.
Inflation has remained stubbornly high at 10.1 per cent, although the figure for April, to be revealed later this month, is expected to show a fall. By contrast, the latest US figures show inflation at 4.9 per cent.
The Bank of England predicted the UK would meet the target to halve inflation this year, but has revised up its forecasts slightly due to stubbornly high prices for the first three months of 2023.
