I’m the wrong sort of black man for Labour, says Kwasi
Chancellor tells MoS his Ghanaian-born parents were hurt by Left-wing MP’s jibe
KWASI Kwarteng has launched a hard-hitting attack on Labour for characterising him as not ‘the right sort of black person’, as he derided the party’s record on diversity.
The under-fire Chancellor spoke out in an exclusive Mail on Sunday interview in which he also defended his miniBudget that caused turmoil on the international money markets and alarmed Tory MPs.
Mr Kwarteng branded Labour ‘backward’ when it came to identity politics as he gave his first response to their MP Rupa
Huq shockingly describing him as ‘superficially’ black.
Ms Huq, MP for Ealing and sister of TV presenter Konnie Huq, was suspended by Sir Keir Starmer after saying at the Labour conference: ‘Superficially, [Mr Kwarteng] is a black man. He went to Eton I think he went to a very expensive prep school... if you hear him on [Radio 4’s] Today programme you wouldn’t know he is black.’ Mr Kwarteng said his Ghanaian-born parents had been hurt by the views of Ms Huq, who was educated at a £21,000 a year London school.
Although the MP has apologised for her comments, Mr Kwarteng said they represented the mindset of the Labour Party. ‘There is always that element on the Left where it’s OK being black if you are the right sort of black person, that you subscribe to their agenda and like a bit of Britainbashing and the rest of it,’ he said. ‘What drives the Left crazy is seeing successful ethnic minority politicians in the Conservative Party.
‘If you look at the last ten years, the Conservative Party is much more ethnically diverse than the Labour Party and they lecture us on diversity. They lecture us on gender diversity when they’ve never had a female leader; we’ve had three female Prime Ministers.
‘So, on gender, on race, on all of these things that they think they own, they are failing and are backward.
The row came as:
Mr Kwarteng admitted that with ‘hindsight’ the miniBudget had been done ‘at very high speed’, conceded that the markets may have been mollified had he spoken more about spending restraint, but insisted he was doing ‘the right thing’;
The Chancellor prepared to tell the Conservatives’ annual party conference, which starts in Birmingham today, that ‘we must face up to the fact that for too long our economy has not grown enough’;
Tory MPs debated whether Liz Truss would survive as Premier
until the next Election, with supporters of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak lobbying for his ‘coronation’;
In his interview, Mr Kwarteng admits to being shaken by the reaction of City traders to his mini-Budget, saying: ‘It’s very difficult to anticipate how markets react and if politicians were really good at reading markets, I suggest they probably would be market traders.
‘I’m absolutely 100 per cent convinced that this was the right plan. We have a high tax model, we have high spend; that was not sustainable.
‘No one is suggesting that we should increase corporation
‘Convinced that this was the right plan’
tax, no one is suggesting that we should undo the reverse to the national insurance increase. The energy intervention was crucially important.’
Mr Kwarteng, 47, also denies the markets would have been calmer had he accepted the offer from the independent Office For Budget Responsibility to provide an economic forecast with his statement.
He said: ‘There was a massive urgency in terms of the energy intervention.’
Asked about a poll last week giving Labour a 33-point lead over the Tories, Mr Kwarteng said: ‘Over the last six years, polls have come and gone.’