Furious Hunt attacks ‘unworthy’ BBC after Amol Rajan calls chancellor a ‘fiscal drag queen’

Jeremy Hunt known as the BBC “unworthy” throughout heated exchanges on the Budget throughout an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme.

The chancellor criticised programme host Amol Rajan after he known as Mr Hunt a “fiscal drag queen” and mentioned his plans to spice up NHS productiveness have been “Soviet”.

Mr Rajan mentioned Britain was “ravaged by economic shocks” and the financial system was “at best drifting, at worst stagnant.”

The BBC presenter mentioned: “We’ve seen seven quarters of GDP per head that’s been revised downwards. We’re hooked on foreign labour. The birth rate is collapsing. Many public services are creaking. Councils are going bust. Those are facts.”

The indignant Mr Hunt replied that the remarks have been “unworthy of the BBC… and unworthy of you Amol”.

Undeterred, an indignant Mr Rajan defended himself and the company saying: “It’s not about what I feel – these are the details.

“It’s a bit wealthy so that you can say ‘I’m not a man who does gimmicks’. People need radical change and you aren’t delivering it.”

Mr Hunt sternly replied: “I disagree. We are doing better than other economies in Europe. I do not share your pessimism.”

When Mr Rajan added “I’m trying not to be cynical,” Mr Hunt interjected: “I’m not letting you get away with that.”

Earlier within the present, Mr Rajan rattled the chancellor by referring to him as a “fiscal drag queen”.

He mentioned: “They call you the British fiscal drag queen for good reason. Tax levels are the highest since 1948”.

Mr Hunt replied: “You accuse me of being a drag queen. I haven’t been called that before.”

The trade got here after Wednesday’s Budget, which noticed Jeremy Hunt face criticism from grandees throughout the Conservative Party.

He introduced a pre-election giveaway during which he lower taxes for hundreds of thousands however virtually instantly confronted warnings from senior Tories that he had didn’t ship a “silver bullet” to save lots of his celebration.

The chancellor slashed 2p from nationwide insurance coverage – and signalled his need to abolish it altogether – in a bid to woo disgruntled voters. Combined with a related lower on the finish of final yr, Mr Hunt mentioned a particular person on a mean wage of £35,000 could be £900 a yr higher off.

But in a withering evaluation, the extremely revered Institute for Fiscal Studies mentioned for each £1 handed again to voters by the chancellor, the choice to freeze tax thresholds would declare £1.30.

In a Budget designed to enchantment to voters forward of the looming normal election, Mr Hunt additionally introduced an additional £6bn for the NHS and reforms of the “unfair” youngster profit system, which can assist 170,000 households.

Despite the headline-grabbing insurance policies – together with freezing gasoline and alcohol obligation – former chancellor George Osborne mentioned it was not sufficient to show his celebration round, including: “It is not the silver bullet that’s going to rescue the Tory party’s fortunes.”

Another former chancellor, Lord Lamont, mentioned the measures wouldn’t remodel “the political weather”, whereas arch-Sunak critic Lord Frost mentioned chopping NI with out altering earnings tax was “fiddling while Rome burns”.

With nothing within the Budget to assist first-time consumers, private finance guru Martin Lewis mentioned Mr Hunt had privately advised him he needed to make sure home costs have been “definitely rising” earlier than providing a “big home ownership package”.

Mr Hunt additionally swiped one among Labour’s flagship insurance policies, by saying a crackdown on non-doms, a transfer he mentioned would elevate almost £3bn.

Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out a May election as hypothesis mounts that he’s eyeing an early ballot.

The prime minister has beforehand mentioned his “working assumption” is that he’ll go to the nation within the second half of this yr.

But he didn’t repeat that formulation when requested about a May vote on the Jeremy Vine present on BBC Radio 2.

Instead, the Conservative chief mentioned: “I’m not going to say anything about that. What matters is the choice at that election.”

He added: “And the choice, especially after this Budget, is clear. Our plans are working.”

Voters will go to the polls at first of May, in native elections up and down the nation.

Senior Tories worry the outcomes could possibly be a massacre that may additional diminish their probabilities of a good end in a normal election.