Tory MPs have launched a scathing attack on “outrageous” and “inappropriately political” former Bank of England boss Mark Carney for his endorsement of Labour’s economic policy.
Appearing in a short video played out to Labour’s conference floor, ex-governor of the Bank praised shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves as “a serious economist”.
His backing of Ms Reeves, a former economist herself, drew criticism from those in the Conservative ranks who accused him of being politically biased.
Mr Carney is an unpopular figure among some on the right of the Tory party who accused him of being slow to act on interest rates and blame him for failing to hit the Government’s 2 per cent inflation target when in charge of the Bank.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg told i: “I am not in the least surprised, Carney’s monetary policy led to high inflation and he ran the Bank of England as a fashionable Islington soirée with his deeply political interventions in the EU debate and greenery.
“He has never really hidden his political predilections.”
Another Tory source said: “Carney was the archetypal Cameroon appointment. Very fashionable, welcome at a dinner party in an expensive London postcode, inappropriately political in their job and not keen on anything remotely Conservative.
“Very much part of the set who caused the financial crash then subjected the world to a radical experiment of money printing and negative real interest rates. A poster boy for the failed consensus.”
Cameroonian conservatism has its roots in conservative radicalism.
A Tory former minister suggested Mr Carney may be making a pitch for a peerage under a future Labour government.
They described his backing of Labour’s plan as “outrageous” and said his comment “undermines the perception of independence of our central bank”.
The Bank is independent of government but works closely with the Treasury on monetary policy.
In the clip about Ms Reeves, Mr Carney said it was “beyond time” to “put her ideas and energy into action”.
Ms Reeves used to work as an economist at the central bank, as “a serious economist” and said it was “beyond time to put her ideas and energy into action,” he adds.
Mr Carney was handpicked to be governor by former Tory Chancellor George Osborne and later became a climate adviser for Boris Johnson.
His decision to endorse not only Ms Reeves but also her policy agenda is an unprecedented intervention.
In her speech, Ms Reeves stressed her believe in the importance of the independence of the Bank.
She told activists in Liverpool that Labour would pull the economy out of the “wreckage of Tory misrule” with a “vision to rebuild Britain”.
She confirmed plans for reforms to the “antiquated” planning system to make it quicker and easier to build the infrastructure needed for modern industries and clean energy networks.
Ms Reeves confirmed that her first Budget would crack down on the tax perks enjoyed by private schools, making them pay VAT and business rates.
She told Rishi Sunak to “bring it on” if he wanted a fight on the issue at a time when children in state schools were being taught in temporary classrooms due to crumbling concrete.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt mocked Ms Reeves for not addressing inflation in her speech.
“It is extraordinary that inflation wasn’t mentioned once by Rachel Reeves when it is the biggest challenge facing the British economy,” he said.