19 February 2024 , 17:38
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Rachel Reeves blasted the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for failing to turn up to face questions on the recession in the Commons.
The Shadow Chancellor could be overheard asking "where is he?" as a more junior Treasury minister, Bim Afolami, was sent to field questions. She added: "You're not the Chancellor".
Official figures last week showed the economy had plunged into a recession after the economy shrank by a worse-than-feared 0.3% in the final three months of last year. The fall – after a 0.1% drop the previous quarter – amounts to a technical recession.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Ms Reeves said: "The Chancellor should be here in Parliament explaining why Britain has fallen into recession. "Can the minister explain why he has been left to answer these questions and where exactly is the Chancellor today?"
She added: "The Chancellor should be accountable to MPs and to our constituents and answer for his failure in this House. What an insult to all those people who go to work every day and experience the reality of 14 years of Conservative economic failure that he has simply failed to turn up."
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The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sent a more junior minister to answer questions (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)In response Mr Afolami did not explain the Chancellor's absence but said he was "perfectly entitled" to answer questions on his behalf. He said: "But the main thrust of her remarks was on growth, and let me deal with those in detail. The first point to recognise is indeed the international context that we all find ourselves in."
After groans from the Labour benches, the minister added: "Well, it happens to be true. For example, to describe that international context, 10 EU countries were in recession in 2023." It is understood Mr Hunt instead attending a Cabinet meeting at No10 half an hour after the urgent question was scheduled to start in the Commons.
During the session one Tory MP also also sought to blame the weather for the country's economic woes while denying the existence of a recession. Duncan Baker told MPs in the chamber: "A point that absolutely no one has made is that in the last quarter of the year the Babet, Ciaran, Debi, Elin, Fergus and Gerrit - six major storms and floods the country saw.
"In the previous year how many were there? Absolutely none at all. Can the economic secretary tell everyone of course you're not going to have an economy functioning properly in the grip of storms and floods every fortnight. And we are not in recession, the more we talk it up, the more we will be".
In response Labour's Shadow Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq said: “Duncan Baker’s comments show how out of touch the Conservatives are to the economic realities facing working people. Tory MPs have run out of people to blame for their own economic failure so they are left shouting at the clouds. It's time for change. It’s time for change.”