British prime minister David Cameron has today accepted the resignation of enterprise adviser Lord Young following the latter's remarks about the recession
The Tory peer had suggested most Britons had “never had it so good” and low interest rates meant home-owners were better off thanks to the “so-called recession”.
Lord Young had written to Mr Cameron acknowledging that his comments were “inaccurate and insensitive” and offering his apologies.
Earlier today, Labour treasury spokeswoman Angela Eagle called for Lord Young to be fired. “The prime minister should sack Lord Young and sack him today,” she told the BBC News Channel.
“I think that what we’ve seen is a complete indifference to the fears and worries of millions of people who are going to see their living standards fall next year because of the Government’s risky gamble with growth and jobs.
“I think he’s probably said out loud what a lot of Conservatives think and don’t normally say in the way he has, and I think the Prime Minister should demonstrate that he doesn’t accept this kind of analysis by sacking Lord Young.”
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Lord Young said the Bank of England's decision to cut base rates to a record low of 0.5 per cent since March 2009 had left many homeowners up to £600 a month better off.
He said swingeing government cuts, totalling more than £80 billion over four years, would only take state spending back to the levels of 2007, when people were not “short of money”.
People will look back and “wonder what all the fuss was about”, predicted Lord Young - trade and industry secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s administration.
Last night a spokesman for Mr Cameron said the prime minister was “very unimpressed” by the peer, whom he appointed as his enterprise adviser earlier this month.
The prime minister “believes at this difficult time politicians need to be careful with their choice of words - these words are as offensive as they are inaccurate”, added the spokesman.
PA