By Number 10 today defended a Government minister in the face of fury over her claim that people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis will be able to work longer or simply get a better-paid job.
Safeguarding Minister Rachel Maclean said that long term the Government wanted people to be able to find better-paid work, or take on extra hours to make more money.
The comments come against a backdrop of soaring , rising energy bills and high prices at the pumps.
In a car crash media round this morning the minister, ganja who earns a combined salary of £106,000, got into a muddle over changes to stop-and-search powers unveiled by the department.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has extended the length of time the extra tough measures can be in force, from 15 to 24 hours.But Ms Maclean stumbled on LBC, suggesting it was 12 hours and blamed a lack of coffee.
She also appeared to contradict Boris Johnson’s demand that civil servants return to the office, saying those working from home in her department were ‘still delivering’ and not shirking.
Discussing the cost-of-living crisis on Sky News this morning, she said: ‘I think what we need to focus on now is over the long-term.
‘We do have these short-term pressures on us that we’re all aware of. But over the long-term we need to have a plan to grow the economy and make sure that people are able to protect themselves better, whether that is by taking on more hours or moving to a better-paid job.
‘These are long-term actions but that is what we are focused on as a Government.’
Her comments about the cost-of-living crisis provoked a storm of criticism from Opposition parties with Ms Maclean being branded ‘out of touch’.
But Downing Street defended her in the wake of the backlash and accused reporters of trying to ‘twist the words, unhelpfully’.
Safeguarding Minister Rachel Maclean, admitted the idea would not work for all households, but said the solution for some people could be to look for additional work.
Activity dipped 0.1 per cent month-on-month in March, with revised figures showing zero progress in February
The Bank has now raised interest rates to 1 per cent and is predicting headline CPI inflation will top 10 per cent this year
She also appeared to contradict Boris Johnson’s demand that civil servants return to the office, saying those working from home in her department were ‘still delivering’ and not shirking.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-c5dd49e0-d4f6-11ec-aacf-ed0ed081d1d2" website says people struggling with bills can work longer hours