Sir Iain Duncan Smith has issued a warning to Andy Burnham over his nostalgic view of Britain in the 1970s, describing the period as "disastrous" and warning of economic trouble ahead.
Joining Ian Collins on TalkTV, the Tory MP blasted the prime minister and his Labour Government for living in the past. Weighing in on Burnham's upcoming speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Duncan Smith remarked that the UK leader would likely focus on the theme of "hope".
Labour's "hope" theme criticised
"They've obviously decided, the Labour Party, that they're going to speak about hope, which I find a little bit peculiar, considering that they're not in opposition," the politician began.
"This is normally what you want to say in opposition: 'Let's keep hope alive, let's have hope because when we get into power, we'll change things.'"
"But I need to remind them that they didn't just get elected three months ago. They got elected two years ago. For them to start telling the British public that there's hope when so much of what they're doing at the moment is going wrong, and we are in deep financial trouble, and I mean really deep financial trouble…"
Memories of the 1970s
"Andy Burnham may seem to think everything went well in the '70s, but I'm old enough to remember the 70s. I was in the army in the '70s, and it was a disastrous period," Duncan Smith continued.
"We ended up with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) coming in and bailing us out with a loan that was invidious for the UK at that time, and then demanding all sorts of swingeing cuts. Do you know the only party ever in government to cut the NHS - and cut it, I don't mean reduce its growth - but cut spending, was in fact the Labour Party in government in 1978 or 1979."
Public reaction and Burnham's speech
Following the discussion, viewers flocked to X in response. "Spot on!! Terrible time!!" agreed one. "I can remember the 80s as well, with huge levels of unemployment and whole industries closed down," mused a second.
The Tory MP's comments came just hours before Burnham's speech. Scheduled to take place at 2pm on Tuesday (29 September), the Labour leader has promised to have an "honest conversation" with the country, while addressing key issues such as youth unemployment, housing and social care.
While the exact nature of the PM's speech remains to be seen, it has been widely speculated that Burnham might signal an end to the triple lock on the State Pension. A form of income protection for Britain's older residents, the pledge keeps the State Pension rising in line with inflation, earnings or economic growth, depending on which is higher.
