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Chi Cowton was out of town for a little bit so this interview is a few days old

Good Afternoon Mr Chancellor, how does it feel to be in such a prestigious position once again?

Good afternoon Chi! I won’t lie to you, it's fantastic. But not because of the baubles of office, I couldn’t care less about the Ministerial car, or the positional prestige. It feels great, because I know I have a strong government, expertise, and an outstanding team supporting us to actually get out and help people.

We’ll start on your more recent defection from the Conservatives. Those who have defected from the Tories in the past month consist of many party grandees, who were arguably more socially progressive than the rest of the party. Was this a factor in your defection and do you think the party is going in the right direction?

Yeah, it was definitely a factor. While Skullduggery12 remains a good friend of mine, many of my past colleagues have moved over to C! The chance to work with friends again is absolutely a factor. However, like you allude, when liberal members of a party depart, the party shifts rightwards. At the same time I shifted leftwards in my views. So it sort of put me out of kilter with the mindset in the Tories. Naturally, I wanted to be somewhere which aligned closely with my views.

Does this mean that the Tories are going the wrong way? Not necessarily, they just aren’t going the way that aligns with my values. That said, it will be difficult for them to come back into the political mainstream in the near future.

It’s certainly fair to say that you will be in the spotlight this term with the Cost of Living crisis raging. While there is no succinct way to say it, how will you deal with this multifaceted crisis?

We are pulling the Imprest Supply lever as hard as we possibly can. This innovation which I brought to the Government, and was supported by the former chancellor Phonexia has allowed me to announce our imprest package yesterday. We are targeting the big areas that affect the household budget: Energy, Income and Household expenses. By targeting our interventions on these factors, we can ensure money will do the most good and is spent efficiently. I’ve only been able to do this because of the stunning treasury team that the Government had working on the package. In particular Phonexia, Valt, Leafy, Sky and Gregor have all been outstanding

We believe that these interventions will put a halt to rising prices. Then the Government can deliver a new economic strategy in the budget to develop a productive sustainable and resilient economy.

Do you agree with the Conservative Deputy Leader u/skullduggery12 in their assertion it is a “Cost of Rose” crisis - implying that it is the Rose government who has created the cost of living crisis?

I am so uninterested in the political causes of this crisis. As we become more interdependent on international supply chains, and institutions we become more exposed. So I would argue the crisis was caused by so many factors you couldn’t pin it on any one thing. That said, I constantly receive advice on past governments’ policies so we can avoid exacerbating any current negative cost of living impacts.

There has been many criticisms from the opposition that either this government isn’t going far enough, or that they are approaching from the wrong angle, that fiscal policy is not the answer - what is your response to this?

I am confident we are getting the approach right. We have put forward an ambitious package of over 28 Billion pounds of mid term expenditure - some of the largest proposed in recent times. This spending means we can alleviate pressure, and give us space to build the economy that will reduce our exposure in the long term.

Also, as markets become more complex, the monetarists theory becomes weaker. Fiscal policy and microeconomic interventions are the way to building a sustainable, productive and resilient economy.

Many of the issues which have led to this cost-push inflation are global issues which are fairly entrenched within the current geo-political atmosphere. How does a government go about tackling this?

You’re right. The issue is an international one, as many bodies who are reaping the unethical gains of the crisis are offshore and relatively untouchable. It’s a bit of a paradox as we can’t touch them without being in international institutions, which then reduces our economic flexibility. However, one lever we do have open, is building a sustainable and resilient economy by building thriving new industries, and new jobs. These industries, and sound financial management will give the UK a safety net in times like these.

How is this government as a wider body, not just the treasury tackling the Cost of Living Crisis?

Over the last few weeks I have sought to make the Imprest package the Government’s number one priority. The package itself was drafted by ministers from all departments, with the DEFRA secretary having significant influence. So while we are presenting one key mechanism, it comes from a cross-government response.

I’ve also encouraged Ministers to be thinking about cost of living when designing policy and thinking about budget bids. I expect they have directed their officials to get advice on meeting my expectations on the cost of living.

And to end off this interview, what can we expect from a Broad Centre budget - and what drink will you be taking with it?

While work is underway on the budget, my focus has been dedicated on the imprest supply package, so I can’t give you any specifics. I can promise that we will meet our Queen’s Speech commitments however. On your much more important question, I suspect I’ll be having an oat milk espresso, which will strengthen UK-Europe relations, and demonstrate my personal commitment to decarbonisation.

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Chi Cowton