Squeezed voters are being grumpy, claims minister
COMMUTERS who struggle to get to work on delay-hit train services and have been hit by rising mortgage bills were today branded “grumpy” by a minister.
Andrew Griffith made the comment as he sought to woo voters, including many in London and the wider “Blue Wall” commuter belt.
With two fellow ministers, Robert Halfon and James Heappey, quitting yesterday, he was asked if MPs were leaving a sinking ship, with more than 60 Tories saying that they will not stand again at the general election.
“No, I absolutely think that the Conservatives can win the election,” the science minister responded on GB News. He admitted “it’s been difficult for everybody” given the Covid pandemic and impact of Putin’s Ukraine war sending inflation spiralling.
Attacking Labour, Mr Griffith argued: “If you are worried about your train service not being reliable, the answer is not to repeal every single trade union law passed since the 1970s.
“If you are worried about your interest rates being too high is not to have the hundreds of billions of unfunded spending promises from Labour. So, I understand where people are, they are being grumpy. We are focusing on delivering our plan... that’s, I think, the way that we can convince people that the right answer is Conservative.”
Inflation has fallen from a peak of more than 11 per cent to 3.4 per cent in February and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has highlighted signs that the country is pulling out of recession. However, shadow local government minister Jim McMahon said many people were still struggling with high prices for their weekly shop, energy, mortgages or rents.
“When they see the Government on TV celebrating that inflation isn’t quite as high as it was in previous months, I’m afraid that is just an insult to people working all the hours that God sends but still not able to make ends meet,” he told Sky News.
Labour is now more trusted to manage the economy, according to some polls, after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget sparked financial mayhem during Liz Truss’ brief premiership. Leading economists say both parties are failing to fully acknowledge the looming tight squeeze on public spending.