Last week, Starmer claimed that there had been no impact assessment on how the decision to strip millions of pensioners of winter fuel payments will affect them. He asserted: “There isn’t a report on my desk which somehow we’re not showing, that I’m not showing, as simple as that.” Turns out, that’s not true…
A response from the Treasury to a FOI request shows that they do have a “full internal policy impact assessment”, though refuse to publish it as it was part of the “formulation or development of government policy”. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott slammed the “shocking revelation” of a “hidden analysis”. Starmer once again misleading the public on the goings on in Whitehall. So much for governing with “transparency”…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”