Minister thanks Sue Gray and denies government's first 100 days have been a disaster

Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 07/10/2024

- 08:18

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer has thanked Sue Gray for her work and denied that the first 100 days of the Labour Government have been a disaster.

Speaking on GB News, he said: “Look, Sue is a dedicated public servant, both for Keir Starmer and as a civil servant before…and she can't defend herself in the media, if she's not a politician.

“So, I want to say thank you for what she's done, but it's obviously right that the Prime Minister can try and make sure that he's got the team that he needs in Number 10 so that he can deliver for the whole country.

“I honestly think the public is not terribly interested in this kind of gossip, about what happens within Number 10.

“They're just interested in the Government that delivers, and that's what I think we'd be doing.

“Firstly, I don’t accept at all that in the first 100 days this government has been a disaster.

“We've made real progress across a whole range of issues that really make a difference to my constituents in Lincoln, whether that's a pay rise for the junior doctors at Lincoln Hospital, stopping the previous government's terrible plans for Scampton, ending no fault evictions under the Renters [Rights] Bill.

“I do think it's been a success. I think it's been full of difficult choices which reflect the difficult inheritance that we've got as we become the government.

“But I think Keir Starmer and the rest of the Government is getting on with the job that the British public elected us to do.

“I think on the winter fuel allowance, we've been pretty clear that we inherited a worse fiscal position than we expected. The OBR has said so.

“In terms of the headroom that the Bank of England says might be coming on October the 30th, the Chancellor will set out…the Budget.

“And in relation to the winter fuel allowance, look, no government would want to make these kinds of choices, but we had to make in year cuts, and we're taking steps to try and make sure the very most vulnerable are protected.”

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