PRIME Minister Liz Truss has defended Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's champagne party with financiers who may have profited from the financial crash in the hours after he announced the government's disastrous mini-budget.
Kwarteng has faced calls for an inquiry after it emerged that he attended a bash with hedge fund managers who would make financial gains from the crash of the pound.
According to The Times, the financiers egged the Chancellor on to push through with the plans despite the growing panic over the state of the economy during the bash on Friday September 23.
At the home of Andrew Law, a financier and Tory party donor, Kwarteng reportedly gave guests an insight into forthcoming government spending cuts, something PM Truss remained tight-lipped on during an appearance on the BBC on Sunday morning.
Law is worth an estimated £750 million, has donated £3.6 million to the Tories since 2004, and admitted to taking a short position on the pound in recent years.
The reports have raised concerns that the event informed Kwarteng's decision to push ahead with further cuts despite the market's panicked reaction to his plans.
The pound collapsed to its lowest level since 1985 following the announcement, with the fall-out growing as the week went on, leading to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling for a row-back on the cuts and the Bank of England (BoE) staging an emergency intervention to stop pension pots from collapsing.
The Times reports that Kwarteng has been dubbed a "useful idiot" by two prominent hedge fund bosses, with the phrase allegedly in widespread circulation in the City.
Confronted with the claims on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Truss defended her Chancellor's actions.
The Prime Minister said: “The Chancellor meets business people all the time, that’s his job.
“I do not manage Kwasi Kwarteng’s diary, believe me.”
Pressed on whether it would have been better if he had not gone as people are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, Truss said: “I get up every morning as Prime Minister thinking how can we make our country more successful, how can we reassure people, how can we help people get through these very difficult times and we do face difficult times…
“And that’s what I’m focused on. That’s what the Chancellor is focused on and that is what the whole Cabinet is focused on.”
There were around 30 guests at the swanky west London bash including stockbroker Howard Shore, Swiss-born London banker Sir Henry Angnest, corporate-financier Lord Leigh of Hurley, merchant banker Selva Pankaj, and Tory party chairman Jake Berry.
It comes as opposition politicians have called for an inquiry to establish whether or not Kwarteng's partying with hedge fund managers constitutes a breach of the ministerial code.
As the event was a party, officials would not be required to disclose the event on ministerial transparency returns.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said on Twitter: "This is alarming behaviour. The Chancellor faces incredibly serious questions about his conduct.
"These claims now need to be thoroughly investigated to determine if the Ministerial Code has been broken."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney said: “While struggling homeowners saw their mortgage bills spiral, it seems the Chancellor was sipping champagne with hedge fund managers profiting from the falling pound.
“How out of touch can you get? We need an official inquiry into this now.”
A source close to the Chancellor told The Times: “Any suggestion attendees had access to privileged information is total nonsense.
"The Growth Plan [published earlier that day] included a commitment to review our tax code to make it simpler, better for families and more pro-growth. The government’s ambitions on lowering the tax burden are hardly a state secret.”
