Junior Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson insisted on the morning broadcast round that the government would cut benefits, but was unable to say when or how. Sound familiar?
On the Today Programme Jameson said “absolutely we need to curb welfare costs.” When asked how she immediately said: “well that that’s that’s above my pay that the pay grade, that’ll be set out later on.” She said Labour was supporting businesses to hire people through grants – largely useless…
She also said “Labour MPs have always been committed to bringing the welfare bill down” despite the previous Labour PM being brought to his knees by the backbench rebellion over a tiny reduction to the welfare bill. Is there any wonder borrowing costs are up…
Responding to the UK’s bond yields spiking above comparable peers on Times Radio, Jameson said:
Sally Jameson: “This is a problem that’s facing countries across the world, not just the UK. And I think the Prime Minister’s been absolutely clear that we will be sticking rigidly to the fiscal rules and that fiscal discipline is absolutely key to economic growth. And we also need to make sure that we’re supporting British businesses, which is absolutely what we’re committed to doing. So I think absolutely sticking to those fiscal rules, making sure we’re supporting businesses to grow the economy, to make sure that we can thrive.”
Kate McCann: “So can you guarantee in the budget that businesses won’t face higher taxes?”
Sally Jameson: “It’s not for me to pre-empt what’s in the budget. I’m absolutely above my pay grade.”
What is in pay grade, exactly?
