LONDON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- An adviser to British Prime Minster David Cameron offended Britons by saying they "never had it so good" since the "so-called recession" began, officials said.
David Young, Cameron's enterprise adviser, was forced to apologize for remarks that angered millions of Britons, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Young apologized in a letter to Cameron and in a statement to the media for saying: "For the vast majority of people in the country today they have never had it so good ever since this recession – this so-called recession – started, because anybody, most people with a mortgage who were paying a lot of money each month, suddenly started paying very little each month. That could make three, four, five, six hundred pounds a month difference, free of tax. That is why the retail sales have kept very good all the way through."
The comments were "inaccurate and insensitive," Young said in his apology.
"I am not a member of the government and played no part in the spending review [a budget review]," Young said. "I deeply regret the comments I made and I entirely understand the offense they will cause."
Many Britons believe Young's comments reflect an elitist attitude by many members of Parliament, the newspaper said.
"This Cabinet of millionaires is out of touch with the rising cost of living, frozen wages and the terror ordinary people have that their jobs will disappear as they're sacrificed to fulfill this government's goal of a low-wage, broken, state-privatized Britain," said Unite party General Secretary Tony Woodley.
