Recession gaffe costs Cameron adviser job

David Cameron's enterprise adviser Lord Young resigned yesterday after coming under fire for claiming most people have "never had it so good".

He had told a newspaper that low interest rates meant home-owners were better off thanks to the "so-called recession".

He dismissed the 100,000 job cuts expected each year in the public sector as being "within the margin of error" in the context of a 30 million-strong workforce and said that complaints about spending cuts came from "people who think they have a right for the state to support them".

The former trade and industry secretary in Margaret Thatcher's government also said people would look back on the recession and "wonder what all the fuss was about".

Downing Street and David Cameron resisted initial pressure to sack Lord Young, but described his remarks as "offensive" and "inaccurate".

Mr Cameron said yesterday: "Obviously he's extremely embarrassed. He's withdrawn what he said, he's apologised for what he said, and that's absolutely right."