Have I Got News For You didn’t hold back in savaging Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves tonight (December 5) as Professor Hannah Fry joined the BBC line-up as guest host. Team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton were on hand as usual, alongside Reverend Richard Coles and comedian Finlay Christie as they took a swipe at the Autumn Budget.
Hislop kicked off the discussion by explaining: “The Chancellor has been accused of lying, suggesting that things were worse with the economy than she said and that gave her the chance to raise taxes and spend more money.” Christie quipped: “Yeah, the black hole was not as big as she thought, but to be fair, black holes are normally massive…”
Fry jumped in with a lengthier explanation as she said: “The final OBR report on the 31st of October told Reeves that she was on course for a surplus of £4.2bn, but four days later she went on TV to tell us we’re all doomed.”
Hislop’s response prompted cheers from the audience as he said: “And the extra money comes from the fact that she’s given such large wage settlements to people. They have to pay taxes so she’s got more money than she thought she might have, which she didn’t notice. So I think the answer is put everybody’s wages up endlessly…”
At the cheers, he joked: “You see… populism is incredibly easy.”
Things only got worse for the Labour government as Fry and Coles savaged the retirement age, with Fry repeating: “Cabinet Office minister Josh Simmons said this week that the economic outlook for the under 50s is ‘frankly, s**t.’”
Coles joined in: “Apparently I am going to be richer on the state pension at 106 than you will be in your biggest earning year at 45, because you’ll have to pay back so much interest on your student loan, if you had one.”
