Austerity fan Cam: Thatcher’s cuts ‘really quite mild’
DAVID Cameron admits his cuts were deeper even than Margaret Thatcher’s – and Boris Johnson should unleash more austerity.
In his memoirs, For the Record, published today, the former Tory PM and architect of austerity attacked critics of his flagship policy as “hysterical”.
He went on to insist: “The job we started still needs to be finished”.
He said he had aimed for “far tougher” cuts than those of Mrs Thatcher in the 80s, dismissing hers as “really quite mild”. He wrote: “What we were attempting was far tougher in reality.
“We probably didn’t cut enough. Those opposed to austerity were going to be opposed – and pretty hysterically – to whatever we did.”
He claimed the Lib Dems, the Tories’ coalition partners between 2010 and 2015, were “consulted on every cut”.
But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell reacted furiously to the suggestion that Britain needed more austerity.
He told the Mirror: “David Cameron living in wealthy privilege has no understanding of the suffering austerity caused, especially for four-and-a-half million children living in poverty. He is willing to watch while families queue at food banks. It’s another example of Tory brutality.”
In his book, Cameron admitted he felt “haunted” by his decision to hold a Brexit referendum and said of PM Johnson: “I liked Boris. He made me laugh but I didn’t always trust him.”
But he branded his successor “full of jealousies and paranoias” which “influenced his behaviour”. RADIO Cam yesterday