Krishnan Guru-Murthy wasn’t sure whether the language had landed him in hot water or not…
A journalist described comments made by Jacob Rees-Mogg as “pretty much b****cks” during an interview on Channel 4 News with Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Rees-Mogg did the media rounds on Wednesday morning as market turmoil continued following Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss’s mini-budget last month.
But the Secretary of State for Business was adamant that the market volatility – which has seen pension funds almost collapse, mortgage rates soar and the Bank of England step in to prevent economic catastrophe – was not linked to the policy announcements of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.
He told radio and television channels that volatility was “more to do with interest rates than a minor part of fiscal policy.”
When asked on Channel 4 News what she thought of this claim, the Financial Times‘ Gillian Tett said: “To use the non-technical term, that is pretty much b******s.”
After the interview, presenter Guru-Murthy was unsure whether the word was okay to be broadcast, and offered an apology to anyone offended.
However, later in the programme, he clarified that the use of the word is acceptable under Ofcom rules, as it is described as “medium language” that is “less problematic” when used to mean “nonsense”.
Incredible scenes on channel 4. Worth staying for the last five seconds of this pic.twitter.com/qds3Clep83
— Alan White (@aljwhite) October 12, 2022
Hell of a clarification at the end of Channel 4 News tonight. pic.twitter.com/57j2nxCiSd
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) October 12, 2022
The clip of Tett was later retweeted by Chris Giles, Economic Editor at the Financial Times. He captioned the video: “Straight talking is something we do at @FinancialTimes.
Here @gilliantett says it plainly that minister blaming the Bank of England for sparking the UK-specific financial crisis is ‘b****cks’ Could not have put it better.”
Straight talking is something we do at @FinancialTimes
Here @gilliantett says it plainly that minister blaming the Bank of England for sparking the UK-specific financial crisis is "bollocks"
Could not have put it better https://t.co/kpfP3XVjPv
— Chris Giles (@ChrisGiles_) October 12, 2022
Liz Truss has said the promised tax cuts will boost UK economic growth and therefore help pay for themselves.
The chancellor has committed to fast tracking the independent forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent budget watchdog, at the same time as his economic plan detailing how he will pay for the planned tax cuts – which is now due to be announced on 31 October.
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