PM’s CBI was ‘not great’ says ex-minister

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the prime minister’s Boris Johnson’s address to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference yesterday morning was “not a great one”.

The MP for South West Surrey told Sky News Breakfast programme earlier today: “We all have bad moments and yesterday was not a great one for the Prime Minister, but what ordinary people care about is what matters for their life.”

However he downplayed the significance of the speech, saying : “I just don’t think there has never been a time when there has been some noises about a prime minister, some complaints from backbenchers.”

The current chair of the health and social care committee compared the recession David Cameron and George Osborne dealt with, and “Theresa May battling a hung parliament, and I genuinely don’t think the noises we are getting at the moment… compare to what we have seen previously.

“It has been a bad month, I will absolutely concede that – not just on trivial issues like speeches going wrong but much more serious issues like parliamentary standards. But I think in the end this Government… will be judged on reforms for ordinary people.”