Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden was asked “what is the point of your government” after being shown how Rishi Sunak has failed to hit the vast majority of his promises to voters.
At the beginning of the year, the PM made five promises - to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce NHS waiting lists, bring down national debt and stop the small boats carrying asylum seekers across the Channel.
On Sky News this morning, presenter Trevor Phillips showed Dowden a graph which proved he has only managed to achieve the inflation target.
He said: “You had five pledges. Now, by our reckoning, done one. That is halve inflation, and let’s be honest that’s the Bank of England did that.
“What is the point of your government, with these other four?”
Dowden replied: “In relation to inflation, many commentators were saying in the middle of the year ’inflation is out of control, you’re not going to meet it’. So you can’t now say that when we do that we haven’t done it.”
He insisted the economy had “bounced back stronger” than other countries from the effects of the war in Ukraine, which caused oil prices to soar.
The deputy PM said debt would come down “over the course of this parliament” and that small boat crossings had come down by a third in 2023.
Phillips said waiting list numbers were now at record levels and added: “Whatever it is that you are doing, it is not working.”
But Dowden said the pandemic had put “unprecedented pressure” on the health service, while the strikes by junior doctors had also caused operations to be cancelled.