Tory peer quits over recession gaffe

A Conservative peer has resigned as David Cameron's enterprise advisor after claiming that most Britons have "never had it so good".

In a newspaper interview, Lord Young of Graffham said the Bank of England's decision to cut base rates to a record low of 0.5 per cent since March 2009 had left many home-owners up to £600 a month better off.

He told the Daily Telegraph the swingeing Government cuts announced last month would only take state spending back to the levels of 2007, when people were not "short of money".

Lord Young wrote to the Prime Minister to "apologise profoundly" for his "inaccurate and insensitive" comments, saying: "I deeply regret the comments I made and I entirely understand the offence they will cause."

Mr Cameron, who has accepted Lord Young's resignation, said earlier: "He has given a very strong apology and I have said very clearly he doesn't speak for the Government, he is not part of the Government, and he should be doing a lot less speaking in the future".