Suffolk Tory MP says mini-budget was "major error" and calls for u-turn
Waveney's Tory MP Peter Aldous says the government needs to 'do what needs to be done'
Last updated 13th Oct 2022
A Suffolk Conservative MP has branded Kwasi Kwarteng's mini budget a 'major error' and says the government should prepare to walk back elements of its plan for the economy.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor are under major pressure to scrap parts of the budget after market turmoil linked to the announcement of tax cuts funded by borrowing.
It's led to a collapse in the value of the pound and increases in mortgage costs for millions of UK households.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Waveney Tory MP Peter Aldous said: "You can't put the genie back in the bottle, that's clear."
"What's happened was a major error which quite frankly as the Conservative Party we've got to live with.
"I think we have a responsibility to the country to steady the ship of state and the economy... and to calm the nerves."
Earlier, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng acknowledged the UK suffered some "turbulence" following his mini-budget but said the economy was facing the same problems as other countries around the world.
"What I am going to acknowledge is the fact that it is a very dicey situation globally," he said on a visit to Washington.
Pressed on the situation in the UK, he said: "There was turbulence."
"Everybody is focused on inflation, everybody is affected by potential interest rate rises, everybody is affected by the energy price spike which has been exacerbated by Putin's illegal war in Ukraine.
"Everybody across the global financial community is focusing on the same problem."
But Mr Aldous thinks the Chancellor will be forced to ditch even more of his budget, after a u-turn last week on the top rate of income tax.
"Quite frankly the government have got to do what needs to be done" he said.
"If that means so called u-turns.... it should not be a question of being too proud.... what (the Chancellor) ultimately has to do is produce a balanced budget".
"The Office for Budget Responsibility will have a say in that... they should have been involved previously.
"I would hope they can actually soothe those nerves... and that in turn can allay concerns with rising mortgage interest rates. Those really do hit people"
"Let's not be proud. Let's do what needs to be done to steady the ship".
Peter Aldous has been the MP for the East Suffolk constituency of Waveney since 2010, having previously been a member of the local county council.
He has previously been critical of the government, warning that a failure to uprate benefits in line with inlation would be "unconscionable to people given the government's tax-cutting agenda elsewhere".