Jeremy Hunt says difficult decisions ahead after Truss ‘mistakes’
The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has spoken of “mistakes” made by the Liz Truss administration and predicted “difficult decisions ahead”. Appearing on Sky News on Saturday, in his first interview since replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, the former health secretary signalled he would have a “clean slate” when it came to the budget, and vowed to be “completely honest with the country” amid rumours that Truss has only weeks left as prime minister.
Hunt, who was parachuted into No 11 in an attempt to restore order to Truss’s ailing government, also suggested that some taxes could rise, as he promised to bring stability to the UK in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget.
He told Sky News: “There were mistakes. It was a mistake, when we’re going to be asking for difficult decisions across the board on tax and spending, to cut the rate of tax paid by the very wealthiest. “It was a mistake to fly blind and to do these forecasts without giving people the confidence of the Office for Budget Responsibility saying that the sums add up. “The prime minister’s recognised that. That’s why I’m here.”
After three weeks of turmoil in the financial markets in the wake of Kwarteng’s £43bn tax giveaway, Truss ended days of speculation by removing her ally from office and U-turning on her commitment to drop the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%, a central plank of her leadership campaign.
In a sign of political weakness, Truss turned to Hunt, a Rishi Sunak supporter whom she excluded when she named her cabinet last month.
Hunt, twice a Tory leadership contender and a former foreign secretary, said: “We will have some very difficult decisions ahead. Spending will not rise by as much as people would like and all government departments
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