‘Those Are Facts’: BBC Today Host Slams Chancellor’s Rebuttal Of Broadcaster’s Economy Reporting
BBC Today host Amol Rajan defended the broadcaster for its journalism after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt criticised his “characterisation” of the economy under the Conservative government when the journalist asked whether the budget announced Wednesday “comes even close” to fixing the “scale of the challenges” faced by the UK.
“Those are facts,” Rajan said, in defence of his analysis of a “ravaged: and “stagnant” economy, a monologue which Hunt dismissed as a publicity “gimmick” that was “unworthy of the BBC.”
Rajan: “This might be one of your last big acts in politics. Do you really think you’ve met the moment? This is a country ravaged by economic shocks, at best drifting, at worst stagnant. We all know about its potential, but we’ve had seven quarters of falling GDP per head. That’s been revised downwards. We’re hooked on foreign labour, the birth rate is collapsing, many public services are creaking, councils are going bust. Those are facts. Has your budget really come even close to meeting the scale of the challenges this country faces?”
Hunt: “I believe it has. And if you want gimmicks, if you want quick fixes that unravel, then I’m not your person. If you want a long-term plan to deliver better public services, to get more investment into the economy, then I have delivered packages that do that. And by the way, I think the overall characterisation that you’ve just given of the British economy is unworthy of the BBC because we have grown faster… You accuse me of…”
Rajan: “You can make it… you can criticise… the BBC’s organisation with tens of thousands of people who do lots of different things. There is no such thing as the BBC. And I’m putting to you facts about this country, which a lot of people feel…
Hunt: “It’s unworthy of you, Amol, because…
Rajan: “Well, what have I said that’s incorrect?”
Hunt: “Will you let me answer the question? Can I answer it? We have grown faster than the three largest European economies since 2010. The [International Monetary Fund] say that we are going to grow faster than those three large European economies in the next five years as well. We have created 800 more jobs, 800 more people in work every single day that we’ve been in office. We’ve built the biggest technology industry in Europe, double the size of Germany’s. There is tremendous potential.”
Rajan: “Our listeners who are grateful for the BBC and grateful for the journalism that the team on this programme do every single day will know that real average wages in this country will not return to 2008 levels until 2026. That is a staggering nearly two lost decades of pay growth. That’s the Resolution Foundation that I’m quoting there. That’s not about what I think. These are the facts. And it’s a bit much, isn’t it, for you to say, ‘yes, we’re doing this, you know, I’m not going to do gimmicks. What we want is actually radical change, isn’t it? And I suggest to you that perhaps you’re not delivering it.”
Hunt: “Well, I disagree.”
Opposition, industry bodies and the electorate have criticised Hunt’s “underwhelming” 2024 Spring Budget, his last before the pending general election, after he placed tax cuts at the centre of its strategy and was accused a “missed opportunity to ease the UK’s record tax burden and turbocharge economic growth ahead of the coming general election.”
