Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
John Crace

Having filled us with fear, chancellor hints that horrors won’t be as huge as he thought

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt
The chancellor of the exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, spent Tuesday morning taking questions from the Treasury select committee. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

First, roll the pitch. For the last few weeks Jeremy Hunt has been going out of his way to explain just how screwed the economy really is. That he is going to have to do some desperately unpleasant things to stabilise the situation. Things so unpleasant he doesn’t really want to mention them. But he’s such a decent guy – “fall into my eyes and surrender to my embrace” – that he’s going to tell us anyway. Because we deserve to know the truth.

It’s not us. It’s not even him. It’s just life. The war. Things are just too, too bloody. Bloody bloody. So he’s going to ask us all to make sacrifices. Some may even have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Not all of us are going to get through this. The elderly may die of starvation in their unheated homes.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.