Kwarteng defends post-budget champagne reception with hedge fund managers

Political opponents called for an official inquiry following the Sunday Times report that he attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers who stood to gain from a collapse in sterling following his mini-budget.

Mr Kwarteng said the event had been planned for “a few weeks”.

He told LBC Radio: “I spent, I think, quarter of an hour there, or maybe a bit longer. It was a party event, we have party events all the time.”

Difficult call

Mr Kwarteng added: “I think it was a difficult call and I totally get how it looks. I just feel that it was something that I was signed up to do and I had to do.”

He acknowledged that “with hindsight it probably wasn’t the best day to go”.

The Sunday Times reported that he joined the gathering at the Chelsea home of a City financier on the evening of September 23 where he was said to have been “egged on” to commit to his plan for £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts.

The following Sunday, in a BBC TV interview, the Chancellor declared there was “more to come”, a comment that was blamed for helping to spook the markets, driving the pound, which was already falling, to an all-time low against the dollar.

Tory chairman Jake Berry, who was also at the gathering, insisted Conservative Party donors at the event should be “lauded” while Prime Minister Liz Truss said meeting business people was part of the Chancellor’s job.