Sir John Redwood said that Liz Truss was still the best choice for prime minister, despite the turmoil she has caused since last month’s mini-budget.
Speaking on BBC Radio Berkshire this morning, the Wokingham MP said new chancellor Jeremy Hunt was doing some of the right things, but was also “one or two things that I wouldn’t do in his position”.
He also warned there were “big recessionary forces” caused by the rise in energy prices, while there were “big increases in interest rates in all the advanced countries”.
Sir John, when asked by the breakfast DJ, said that Liz Truss “certainly didn’t follow my advice on that mini-budget”.
This included ensuring spending, borrowing and taxing had “plausible forecasts to show the overall picture”.
“I can see why they rushed out the relief to people through tax cuts, as well as the energy package,” he said. “But it would have been better if they put it all in context, and showed us what the consequences were.
“Now Mr Hunt has rushed out a change of tax policy, again, with no spending details, no borrowing forecasts, no economic forecasts, and I think he should have done the same thing – he should have waited until he could assemble a complete budget, which we can then assess.”
Sir John said that he had been a “great fan” of Mr Hunt during his tenure of health secretary.
“I think he could become a very good transfer,” he said of his new role.
And the decision to change the energy bill scheme – which sees the average household paying £2,500 per year – from two years to six months was also welcome news to the veteran MP, as he had been calling for such a review for several weeks.
“My suggestion was that everybody is allowed a reasonable amount of energy that heavily subsidised price,” he told BBC Berkshire. “Then if you want to burn more, because you’ve got a heated swimming pool, or a sauna, or big castle or something, then you pay the full price for the extra.
“And I will be recommending that as one of the things to look at for the replacement scheme.”
As to the ongoing question as to whether the Conservatives should change leader, Sir John said that Ms Truss had been elected by a decent majority of party members and, under the rules, she was safe from a challenge for 12 months.
“If I was asked today again to choose between Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, I would obviously still choose Liz,” he continued.
“I cannot support what Rishi did … putting taxes up unnecessarily last year, nor the way he signed off on huge amounts of money creation and bond buying, which helped fuel inflation.”
And to his fellow Conservative MPs, Sir John said: “my advice to my colleagues is to respect democracy and the Constitution. Get behind the leader which the party has very recently chosen … and press for a really good growth-based economic policy of the kind I’ve been arguing for for quite a long time.”
