Hunt clashes with Corbyn in row over austerity policy

JEREMY HUNT, a front-runner for the Tory leadership, defended the Conservatives’ austerity programme and in a clash with Jeremy Corbyn said it was the Labour leader’s Marxist regime that would put Britain’s economy at risk.

The Foreign Secretary said this week that he admired the “genius” of David Cameron for convincing people to accept austerity. He said the success in delivering cuts “without poll tax-style riots” had helped put the economy on its feet “to the extent we’re now creating 1,000 jobs every single day since we’ve been in office”.

But Mr Corbyn retorted on Twitter: “Austerity isn’t a political game. It has serious consequences.”

Mr Hunt gave a direct reply: “‘Serious consequences’ doesn’t come close to describing the devastation your hardleft policies would wreak on our economy … Read the full quote and you’ll learn about the real consequences of the Conservatives’ economic stewardship: 1,000 extra jobs a day. All of them at risk under your Marxist regime.”

Mr Hunt went on: “Before you attack me for ‘austerity’ which put the economy back on its feet, perhaps ask why a Labour MP needs a bodyguard at a Labour conference, and your party is under formal investigation for institutional anti-semitism?”

Setting out his pitch for leader in an interview with the New Statesman, Mr Hunt said the Conservatives needed to restore their reputation as the “party of aspiration” and show they were not only a party of “wealth creation” but a party of “prosperity with purpose”.

He insisted that he was as radical as Michael Gove, seen as another leadership contender, and that the reforms he had introduced in the NHS were as significant as those introduced in schools. Mr Hunt is already said to have secured the support of up to 75 Tory MPS, making him one of the front-runners for leader. Positioning himself as a “One Nation” centrist candidate, he faces accusations of being “continuity May”.

But distancing himself from Theresa May, he said: “I am a very different person to Theresa. I am a tech entrepreneur by background. I share her vision that a modern Conservative Party has to show that we can change the lives of everyone in the country but I would do it in a different way.”

Allies of Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, claim he has support from more than 50 Tory MPS, including Grant Shapps and Mike Penning, a former defence minister.