Nick Ferrari didn’t hold back this morning as he grilled a Treasury minister over the government’s latest shake-up — and it got painful.
Ferrari rips into minister over missing facts
Nick Ferrari went full throttle on LBC today, tearing into Treasury minister James Murray for not having key facts about the government’s decision to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).
Murray appeared on the show to defend Labour’s plan to scrap the PSR as part of Keir Starmer’s mission to cut back on “quangos” — taxpayer-funded bodies not directly controlled by the government.
But things quickly unravelled when Ferrari pressed Murray on the details.
‘You’re scrapping it — but don’t know how many jobs are going?’
Ferrari opened with a simple question: how many people work at the PSR?
Murray admitted he didn’t have the figure, saying it would be part of the “detail over the summer.”
Ferrari wasn’t having it.
“So you’re scrapping the regulator and you’ve no idea how many people you’re making redundant? Don’t you think you should know?
“I’ll tell you. It’s 160 people — didn’t take me that long, did it?”
Murray tried to steer the conversation back to policy, saying the focus was on making things simpler for businesses. But Ferrari pushed harder.
‘Why does everything need a consultation?’
Murray explained that the details would be hammered out through consultation.
Ferrari shot back:
“More consultation? Let’s be honest — you’re scrapping quangos, but the last time I looked, this takes us over 70 different consultations within the government.
“You’re consulting on everything from breakfast clubs to bombs in the Ministry of Defence. Why can’t you just make decisions?”
Murray defended the process, saying the government wanted to “get it right.”
Ferrari wasn’t buying it.
‘Read a newspaper!’
Ferrari then asked how much the quangos cost taxpayers.
Murray admitted he didn’t have the figure. That’s when Ferrari delivered the killer blow:
“Can I suggest you read a newspaper, respectfully?
“The Times told me PSR has 160 people. The Times told me there are 18 quangos costing more than £1bn a year. Why do the journalists have those figures — but you don’t?”
Murray replied, “Thanks for the tip, Nick. Of course, I could listen to your show, couldn’t I?”
Ferrari shot back:
“Indeed — but shouldn’t you already know how many people might lose their jobs? Shouldn’t you know how much money it’s costing?”
Murray’s response? The government is “listening to businesses.”
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