Tory chairman Greg Hands has been roasted over the lack of progress being made by the government on Rishi Sunak’s five promises to voters.
The prime minister has pledged to halve inflation, cut NHS waiting lists, grow the economy, reduce national debt and stop the small boats carrying asylum seekers across the Channel from France.
But it emerged last week that waiting lists have hit a record high, GDP flatlined in February, while inflation also went up that month.
Sunak has also refused to commit to stopping the small boat crossings by the time of the next election.
On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Hands was skewered over the government’s poor record.
He said the government is “working very hard at delivering all of the five priorities”.
But Kuenssberg said: “What happened to the economy in February?”
The Tory chairman replied: “Well in February it wasn’t one of the better results, but in January it grew by 0.3%. We had the best growth in the G7 in 2021 and 2022.
“Overall with this Conservative government we’ve got a record to be proud of on growth.”
Kuenssberg replied: “And in February there was zero growth. Are you proud of that? Are you proud of zero growth in our economy?”
Hands said: “That is a monthly figure. If you look at the previous month, for example, it was plus 0.3.”
In a separate interview on Sky News this morning, Hands said the Tories were on course for disaster in next month’s local elections.
He said: “The independent expectations are that the Conservatives will lose more than a thousand seats and that Labour need to make big gains.”