A minister was skewered over the state of the country on BBC Question Time last night, with one audience member predicting the Tories will “lose terribly” at the general election.
Addressing food, farming and fisheries minister Mark Spencer on the first full day of election campaigning, the man in the crowd offered a bleak summary of what has happened to the UK since his party took over.
He said: “Mark, I think you need to read the room a bit.
“When you said you delivered for the country and the economy’s turned a corner, people round here laughed at you.
“Because no one is feeling it. You take a walk now through Coventry city centre, it’s changed.
“People having to choose between heating their homes and feeding their kids.
“NHS is on its knees, knife crime and youth violence is rising all over the country, your party has let us down over the last 14 years.
“You’re going to lose, you’re going to lose terribly, and you’re going to deserve to lose.”
Applause broke out around the room when he finished.
The Tory MP just said he acknowledged there are “huge global challenges”, and blamed the war in Ukraine for driving food and energy prices up along with the Covid pandemic.
He claimed the pandemic shock also led to long waiting lists in the NHS.
Host Fiona Bruce then cut in by saying: “The waiting lists were long before that, you know that.”
“Clearly Covid has had a huge impact on that as well,” Spencer replied. “The only way you solve that is with a strong economy
“I’m not saying for a second that all things are rosy in the garden for a second, but my point is that we just started to turn that corner, the economy is starting to grow.”
The UK economy fell into recession briefly at the end of 2023, but it has managed to recover in 2024 and is expected to grow faster than expected now, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, the IMF also warned against tax cuts.
Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said on Tuesday that the government “respectfully disagree with the IMF.”
They added: “My view is that cutting national insurance, rewarding work, is an important part of growing the economy.”