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Vince Cable: I would make good chancellor | |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Business Secretary Vince Cable has said he would make a good chancellor but he was "not pushing for the job". | |
It comes after his close ally Lord Oakeshott called for him to replace George Osborne, who he described as a "work experience chancellor". | |
Mr Osborne is under fire after growth figures confirmed the UK is in its longest post-war recession. | |
The economy shrunk by 0.7% between April and June - the the third quarter of a year in a row of falling GDP. | |
In response, Mr Osborne said the government was "dealing with our debts at home and the debt crisis abroad". | In response, Mr Osborne said the government was "dealing with our debts at home and the debt crisis abroad". |
And he added: "But given what's happening in the world, we need a relentless focus on the economy and recent announcements on infrastructure and lending show that's exactly what we're doing." | And he added: "But given what's happening in the world, we need a relentless focus on the economy and recent announcements on infrastructure and lending show that's exactly what we're doing." |
But Lord Oakeshott told BBC News on Wednesday his fellow Lib Dem Mr Cable should be put in charge at the Treasury. | |
'Torrid time' | |
He said: "George Osborne has got no business experience. | He said: "George Osborne has got no business experience. |
"He has never worked outside politics. He is doing surprisingly well for a chancellor on work experience. | "He has never worked outside politics. He is doing surprisingly well for a chancellor on work experience. |
"But really in a torrid time like this I think we do need absolutely the best people available." | "But really in a torrid time like this I think we do need absolutely the best people available." |
Lord Oakeshott, a City fund manager and former Labour councillor, said the UK needed "a bolder plan to to grow, to make the banks lend and to get houses built, and I do think it would help if we had the A-team in the Treasury". | |
In an interview with the BBC Two's Newsnight programme on Thursday, Mr Cable said Lord Oakeshott was a "good friend" but he did not agree with him on the issue. | |
Asked whether he would make a good chancellor, Mr Cable replied: "I probably would but George Osborne is doing the job, we're doing it together well as part of a team, and nobody's suggesting we change the arrangements". | Asked whether he would make a good chancellor, Mr Cable replied: "I probably would but George Osborne is doing the job, we're doing it together well as part of a team, and nobody's suggesting we change the arrangements". |
Quizzed further about whether he wanted Mr Osborne's job on Friday, he told BBC News: "I am not pushing for the job. | |
"We are part of a team, we have a collectively agreed policy and I am delivering on my bit of it, focusing on industrial policy." | |
The Lib Dem minister said he was not "proposing a radically different approach" to Mr Osborne when it came to fixing the economy and hit back at claims his Tory colleague is a "part-time chancellor" as he spends part of his week on Conservative Party election strategy. | |
"We both work hard and we are both working full time on what we are supposed to be doing. | |
"We have a combined approach, a team approach, and we are going to stick with it." | |
He said the construction sector was the biggest "drag" on GDP - but denied the slump in the building trade was down to coalition public spending cuts, saying it was a hangover from the "housing bubble" under the previous government. | |
And he insisted there were encouraging signs for the economy with a big growth in private sector employment and foreign investment such as Jaguar Land Rover, which is creating another 1,100 jobs. | |
Before becoming an MP, Mr Cable was chief economist at oil giant Shell and worked as a special adviser to one-time Labour leader John Smith, when he was industry secretary in the 1970s Callaghan government. |