Prime Minister's policy chief 'resigns' days ahead of Budget and warns party lacks 'coherent economic programme'

George Freeman
George Freeman Credit: Telegraph

Theresa May's policy chief has stepped down just days ahead of the Budget as he warned the party does not have a "coherent economic programme". 

George Freeman called for Chairman Patrick McLoughlin to be replaced and demanded a major shake up to stop the Tories from becoming known as the party of "nostalgia, hard Brexit, austerity and lazy privilege".

He added that an "ambitious" programme of party reform was needed to reconnect with younger voters in the wake of the Tories' "ill-conceived" general election campaign. 

In an article which criticised the Prime Minister and his party Mr Freeman, a former business minister, said Mrs May must inspire people with a vision for what the UK will be like after Brexit or risk being shunned by voters.

And he and called on her to "rediscover the spirit of Margaret Thatcher" as he highlighted concerns about  falling wages, unaffordable housing and public service spending cuts. 

Mr Freeman said the party does not have a sensible economic strategy in a damaging broadside penned just days ahead of the biggest fiscal event for the May Government so far. 

Writing on the Conservative Home website he added: "Whilst the Prime Minister brilliantly defined her social justice crusade on entering Number Ten, we haven’t yet framed a coherent economic programme to tackle the underlying economic causes of the injustices which so many voted against in the election: the growing unaffordability of housing, the dominance of too few big companies in markets such as energy, house building, banking, telecoms and utilities, and the rising taxes on middle England combined with falling real spending on frontline public services that we all rely on.  

"The Chancellor is right to signal that we need some bold moves to signal that we ‘get’ the grievances.   And that we mustn’t embrace “Corbyn-lite”.  It isn’t the answer.  And risks tempting voters to vote for the real thing."

"Given the deepening disconnection between the Conservative Party and the new generation of aspirational voters under 45, the new intellectual battle of ideas reshaping our political landscape, this is now urgent," he said.

His comments follow the disclosure that he wrote to Mrs May in the run-up to the election warning that the Tories risked being seen as "a narrow party of nostalgia, hard Brexit, public sector austerity and lazy privilege".

The policy board, which he chaired, has since been wound up. Mr Freeman said a body independent of Government was needed.

He added: "We need to rediscover again the spirit of Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, which was committed to the bold redistribution of economic power and opportunity.

"With wages and household spending power falling, and exhaustion in the public sector after seven years of Whitehall imposed spending cuts (which we led the public in 2010 to believe would eradicate the deficit by 2015) the danger is that we come to be seen as the defenders of a broken system of failing Big Government, rather than bold reformers only half way through the job."

He revealed he has stepped down as chair of the Number 10 policy board in order to focus on his work as the chair of the Conservative policy forum and a festival of ideas which he launched earlier this year - dubbed Tory Glastonbury.

Critics in the party have warned that the Conservatives must appeal to the "just about managing" generation which Mrs May identified when she first took office. 

They are concerned that the Government is too focused on Brexit and in recent weeks senior Conservative MPs including Robert Halfon and others have pressed the Prime Minister to do more to cut taxes for working people.

"I believe we could regain the political momentum by the Prime Minister announcing that we will use this unprecedented window to instigate a bold programme of Conservative Party renewal, with a new Chairman and political team at CCHQ to oversee the intellectual, organisational and cultural renaissance of a conservatism fit to shape and lead us through the 21st century," he said.

For Labour, shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett said: "For a man who once said that the 'raison d'etre' of his role in Number 10 was to face the challenge of renewal in office, his resignation speaks volumes on the current state of the Tories in Government." 

Mr Freeman tweeted that any suggestion he had resigned was "Labour troublemaking", adding: "I agreed with No10 in July to review the role of the Policy Board after Conference, and last week we agreed to wind up the Board in No10 and focus on my work as Chair of the Conservative Policy Forum on Party Renewal."

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