EX-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has spoken for the first time in a TV interview since his ousting – blasting Nicola Sturgeon’s “woke” agenda that “blew up in her face”.
The MP for Spelthorne triggered market meltdown when his September Mini Budget sent the pound to its lowest-ever level against the dollar.
Ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng says he ‘fled’ his home when sacked by Liz Truss to avoid answering questions
The MP for Spelthorne blasted Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘woke’ agenda that ‘blew up in her face’
His plans nearly collapsed UK pension funds – holding £1TRILLION of Brit retiree savings – before the Bank of England stepped in at the eleventh hour.
But speaking to TalkTV last night, he said: “When you’re getting door stepped, as I was by media, I just fled.
“I knew what would happen… every day there were people, but after about four or five days, the story moved on.
“So when I came back to my house, there was nobody there, about six days later.”
Show host Richard Tice chimed in, asking whether Mr Kwarteng, sacked October 14, “blew” the Budget “pretty badly”.
But Mr Kwarteng – who lasted just 38 days in the job – insisted it was a “turbulent time”.
He added: “We were trying to do a serious thing.
“We tried to reduce the tax burden on this country and we were caught in a real firestorm and I think it’s a shame what happened.”
The ex-Chancellor went on to blast Scotland’s outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
He said the SNP leader – who resigned on Wednesday – “got herself into lots of knots” over her gender laws which he believes was her undoing.
He blasted: “Essentially her woke agenda ended up blowing up in her face.
“It was really the straw that broke the camel’s back – her ratings plunged.”
Back on the economy, Mr Kwarteng – an MP since 2010 – said he does “regret” the speed at which he made sweeping changes to UK tax demands.
But he was adamant how “the general direction” in terms of lowering tax “was right”.
Mr Kwarteng announced various tax cuts for the wealthy in his September 23 “mini-budget”.
The government U-turned on the plans when markets went into meltdown.
He lost his job as he was flew back from Washington D.C. – then Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned seven days later.
Discussing tax rises, he said: “I’ve always been very clear about the fact that I don’t think you get to prosperity by high taxes.
“I don’t think that’s the route to do it.”
Mr Kwarteng went on to say his successor Jeremy Hunt did a “good job” in stabilising the markets in what he says is a “very orthodox Treasury ideology”.
