ANDREW Bowie repeatedly refused to say whether he would back Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax slashing mini-budget in a parliamentary vote.
The Scottish Tory MP, speaking from the party’s conference in Birmingham, repeatedly said he was “looking forward” to the Prime Minister and Chancellor making the case for their financial plans over the weekend, but would not commit to fully backing the policy.
Instead, Bowie admitted he shared former Tory minister Michael Gove’s concerns over the plans, which will require huge amounts of borrowing to pay for sweeping tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the richest in society, but would not go so far to say that he would vote the policy down in the House of Commons.
Speaking on the BBC Sunday Show, Martin Geissler asked Bowie if he thought his job would be easier if the Chancellor and PM hadn’t “just tanked the economy”.
Bowie insisted that the Tories are “much better in government than out” and that the party has a better plan for the country than “any of the alternatives”. Confronted with the hike in mortgage rates, tanking the pound and the Bank of England’s intervention to stop pensions collapsing, Bowie was asked if that’s what was part of the UK Government’s plan or if it had “gone off the rails”.
The Aberdeenshire West MP said: “The Chancellor will be making his speech later on this week and he’ll be outlining more of his plans for this country and the economy, and then of course we’ll be hearing more from the OBR.”
Bowie then said the PM and Chancellor will “expand” on their plans in parliament to “move the country forward”.
The Tory MP referenced Liz Truss’s admission on Sunday morning that she “should have laid the groundwork” better ahead of the mini-budget announcement, appearing to blame communication issues for the ongoing economic instability, and that once the plans are set out the “markets will respond”.
Again, defending the UK Government’s policies, Bowie said he was “looking forward” to hearing the PM and Chancellor explain their intentions for the country at the Tory party conference in Birmingham.
But when asked if he would vote for the plans and the 45p tax cut for the richest in society in the House of Commons, Bowie paused before answering.
He said: “As I said, we're going to hear more from the chancellor exactly what his plans are for the economy this week.
"We're going to take a decision based on what the plans are and every Conservative MP will have to examine those plans in detail and in-depth and come to decision as to whether or not they support it.”
Probed on why the Chancellor pushed ahead with his mini-budget without releasing the accompanying OBR forecasts, Bowie said the question should be directed at Kwarteng.
He said: “I'm afraid that's a question for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that's not something that I can answer.”
Geissler interrupted to ask if Kwarteng should lose his job over the economic chaos, to which Bowie replied: “I think that's a bit extreme.”
“Look, the Chancellor will be setting out his plans in more detail this week and of course in the weeks ahead.
“We will then examine those plans in detail and determine whether or not we support them. That's what all Conservative MPs will have to do as we move forward.
“And that's what ultimately the public expects of us.”
The interview came after former Tory government minister Gove suggested he could vote against the government’s plans, adding that he is “profoundly concerned” by their impact.
Gove, who backed Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership election, said that using borrowing to pay for slashing taxes was “not Conservative”. Bowie admitted that he shares Gove’s concerns about “where we are right now”.
“But I think it's incumbent on all of us to give the Chancellor the space and the time to expand on those plans and then set more detail, and then for us to be able to determine whether or not we support those plans or not.
“That's one of the reasons I'm in Birmingham at the Conservative Party Conference right now.”
Asked if he had faith in the Chancellor, Bowie said “yes, absolutely”, adding that he had known Kwarteng “for a long time”.
Geissler asked for a second time if borrowing to fund tax cuts is not Conservative then would he not vote for the policies in parliament.
The Tory MP said: “Look we aren’t at the vote yet, we have to have those conversations. We have to examine exactly what it is the Chancellor and the Prime Minister want to do and that's what we're going to be hearing about here in Birmingham and back in Westminster in the weeks ahead.”
Asked about the impact the crisis has had on his party and the likelihood they could be ousted at the general election, a laughing Bowie said: “I tend to not believe polls.”
