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Tory demand for an Osborne apology is growing

Tory MP Andrea Leadsom says the Chancellor "should apologise" for his attack on Balls.

By George Eaton Published 10 July 2012 9:11
Chancellor George Osborne. Photograph: Getty Images.
Chancellor George Osborne is facing calls to apologise to Ed Balls. Photograph: Getty Images.

The increasingly impressive Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom won't have done her career prospects any good with her call for George Osborne to "apologise" to Ed Balls but she has won the respect of Labour MPs as well as a sizeable number of Tories.

Asked by Radio 4's The World Tonight whether Osborne should apologise to Balls after Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker said no ministers asked him to "lean on" Barclays over Libor rates, Leadsom said:

Yes I do. I mean I think obviously he made a mistake and I think he should apologise.

She added:

I think it was a very valid discussion at the time about who knew what and that's now been completely squashed by Paul Tucker and that is a valid conversation to have had, and now at a personal level he probably would want to apologise.

But Osborne and his aides are refusing to back down. A friend of the Chancellor tells the Telegraph's James Kirkup that Osborne's suggestion was never that Labour ministers had lent on the Bank of England, rather that they had influenced the banks directly. That may or may not be the case, but one notes that Osborne has yet to supply any evidence to support his account. Nor has he even laid out the alleged "questions" Balls needs to answer.  As one Tory MP observed last week, "Before we went into the chamber on Thursday, George's people were saying 'Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. George is going to get Ed Balls'. They were indicating that there was a silver bullet that was going to kill him. It was never fired.

Challenged on the Today programme to defend Osborne, William Hague insisted that "there remain questions to answer" and that there was "no reason" for him to apologise. But as the Foreign Secretary's voice quivered one could tell his heart wasn't in it. Osborne's dramatic assertion that Labour ministers were "clearly involved" in the rate-rigging scandal has become the banal claim that they have "questions" to answer at the forthcoming parliamentary inquiry. Whether or not the Chancellor apologises, he has blinked first in this duel.

Tags: George Osborne  Ed Balls    

 
 

16 comments

Goji's picture

Wed, 2012-07-18 14:12 — Goji (not verified)

Nice article..... interesting.
Goji Goji fructe goji

Paul J's picture

Wed, 2012-07-11 01:17 — Paul J (not verified)

The really laughable thing is this- George Osbourne actually took Bob Diamonds words at face value !!

He must be the only person in the country who heard Diamonds obvious attempt to spin and obsfucate and blame others, and believed it without demur. What an idiot.

Vince Justin Marce's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 13:45 — Vince Justin Marce (not verified)

All the lies that are coming out of Osborne's mouth in Parliament is further evidence that this Tory Led Coalition are making everything up as they go along.

I would go further and say if all the rumours and photographic evidence of George Osborne with a prostitute and drugs are correct, he may have some very serious psychological problems as drugs such as cocaine can cause life long problems.

Something is seriously wrong with Mr Osborne and he is definitely unfit to be Chancellor of The Exchequer.

AGasFan's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 11:17 — AGasFan (not verified)

This has nothing to do with politics,

Osborne made a statement, he either stands by it (backs it up) or retracts it (makes and apology)

He is making this harder by refusing to do either

Man up and makes and apology, lets face it he must be used to saying sorry i got it wrong by now :)

John Boy's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 10:56 — John Boy (not verified)

Take a good look at Mr Osborne in his Bullingdon outfit. Same sneer where the silver spoon was plucked from his mouth; he seems little changed this example of Bullingdon Man. I recall it took 40 years to expose Piltdown Man as a complete fabrication. It has taken less than 40 minutes to expose Mr Osborne. Yesterday Paul Tucker unambiguously denied talking to Ministers and thereby destroyed the Chancellors credibility. It is said Mr Osborne is clever, he has the advantages of the first class education that his family money provided. Yet, his behaviour in the house of commons was disgraceful and arrogant; his attempts to smear Ed Balls in print the antics of a patronising brat.

Mr Mathews's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 10:32 — Mr Mathews (not verified)

If you accuse someone in public of something that is not true it is only right that you apologise.

If Osborne does not apologise that gives the green light for MP's to say what the hell they like turning Parliament into a House of Lies where the truth would be a thing of the distant past.

I guess we are already at that point !

Des Demona's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 10:09 — Des Demona (not verified)

Blimey, between Andrea Leadsom and Nadine Dorries it seems it is the female contingent of Tories who have Balls.

Indu Pendent's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 09:34 — Indu Pendent

Osborne has nothing to appologies for.

Many people think millionaire Balls is not trustworthy based on past actions in the Treasury. Why do we have the OBR?

Peter Thomas Harris's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 15:19 — Peter Thomas Harris (not verified)

The 'millionaire' ED Balls? Can this be true or is it because the value of the house he lives in may be a million? Or is it another lie? remember too that the independence of the OBR has been questioned often. No, Gideon is a liar and a coward.

Indu Pendent's picture

Wed, 2012-07-11 17:00 — Indu Pendent

You obviously dont know much about Ed Balls and his background. A bet you support him though.

Go check out his consultancys which he has done off the back of his policitcal career - he could not wait until finishing as a public servant.

DMyers's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 11:56 — DMyers

We have the OBR because it's easier to blame an external body when forecasts are wrong rather than taking responsibility for it. I'd have thought that was patently obvious.

frances smith's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 19:23 — frances smith

so far most of the OBR's growth forecasts have been wrong anyway, so why do we have the OBR?

kenelmist's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 10:00 — kenelmist (not verified)

Sorry, Indu, your grip on reality is slipping away ...

Steve AM's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 09:56 — Steve AM (not verified)

Is he a millionaire? Balls being trustworthy is subjective. I guess many will think Balls is a lot more trustworthy than Osborne who many think is incapable of being Chancellor and can’t understand why Cameron doesn’t move him somewhere else.

fuzzy spider's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 09:48 — fuzzy spider (not verified)

And how many people think Osborne is not trustworthy due to his own tax dodging, his fiscal politics based upon ideology and not reality, and his affiliations with extremely dishonest people (James Murdoch et all)?

The day we start to let "how many people believe this or that" decide whether or not we can rake someone over coals is the day we return to witch hunts. Osborne made an accusation which was untrue. If he has any decency at all he'll apologise. But this is Osborne, a man of legendary arrogance and absolutely no scruples at all. There is no way this renegade champion of corporate fascism will ever apologise.

Steve AM's picture

Tue, 2012-07-10 09:22 — Steve AM (not verified)

I don’t think Osborne made a mistake. He knew what he was doing out of blind political games. He took a risk and seems to have lost. The big mistake that Osborne has is to treat Ed Balls the way he does with his idiotic fixation of trying to get one over him.
My feeling is Osborne is scared of Balls because it seems Balls has a better understanding of the economic environment than he does.

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