Chancellor John Healey’s allies are attempting to claim that he and Burnham didn’t know how bad the British fiscal position was until they got inside the Treasury. Pull the other one, it’s got bells on…
An ominous pitch-rolling briefing to the FT:
‘Healey discovered he would become chancellor just days before he entered the Treasury, giving him no time for the customary meetings with officials to see the state of the government’s books ahead of taking power.
“I don’t think John Healey knew; I don’t think Andy knew,” says a senior Labour official. “Until you get the proper briefings you can only know so much. John was not in access talks with the Treasury until it was way too late.”’
This is the same strategy pursued by Reeves and Starmer in July 2024, when they claimed that they only saw the real cash deficit left by the Tories once they were inside government. Reeves said:
“I don’t think anyone realised quite how bad things were… They called an election because they weren’t willing to take tough decisions and they just ran away.”
Unfortunately for Labour, then as now the poor fiscal position is quite clear to anyone bothered to look. The market screens currently being refreshed in the Treasury can be seen by all…
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked John Healey: “Just finally, I mean Andy Burnham has been very clear he wants Britain back in the European Union in his lifetime. Do you?”
The Chancellor replied: “I’m older than Andy Burnham. I don’t expect to see that.”