David Gauke takes a pop at his former boss

Following the disappointing snap election result, Theresa May has had to relax her approach to government – gone are the days when Cabinet members are kept off the airwaves. As a result of the new regime, lobby hacks today finally had a member of the government speak at a press gallery lunch.

Doing the honours was David Gauke, the new Work and Pensions Secretary. The former ‘tax personality of the year’ set the cat among the pigeons as he hinted that the pensions triple lock could be scrapped in ten years. However, it was Gauke’s jokes that caught Mr S’s attention. During his time in the Treasury, George Osborne – then Chancellor – regularly opted to ‘uncork the Gauke’ when he found himself in a sticky situation. Now that Osborne is out of government, Gauke took the opportunity to take a pop at his old boss:

‘Can I just apologise if there is anybody here who came with the expectation that George Osborne would be speaking today.