Osborne ‘will not be pulling punches’

George Osborne THERESA May has joined Jeremy Corbyn in offering a “retreat from international liberalism and globalisation”, which marks a sharp shift in direction from David Cameron’s administration, former chancellor George Osborne has said.

And Mr Osborne contrasted the Prime Minister’s approach with the “socially liberal, pro-business and pro-free market” values which he wants to promote in his new role as editor of the Evening Standard.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking, the former Conservative MP stood by criticisms of Mrs May’s policies on social care and immigration, which have been the subject of stinging headlines and editorials since he took the helm at the Standard.

He denied that he was taking revenge on the woman who sacked him from the Cabinet last July, but said he would not “pull punches” in his coverage of the Tory government.

And he declined to say whether London’s evening paper would endorse the Conservatives for the June 8 general election.

“Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are offering, in very different ways, a retreat from international liberalism and globalisation,” said Mr Osborne.

“That is quite a development in British politics, and I think there are quite a lot of people who are uncertain whether that is the right development and I want to make sure that the Evening Standard is asking on their behalf questions about that.”

Shying away from classing the Standard as part of the “Tory press”, Mr Osborne said: “I am taking a slightly different approach, which is that there are a set of values that the Evening Standard has, which are that we are socially liberal, we are pro-business and pro-free market, and we want Britain to have a big role in the world and those values we then apply to whatever the issues are.”