Full text: Philip Hammond’s Budget statement 2018

Mr Deputy Speaker, Today, I present to the House a Budget for Britain’s future; A budget that shows the perseverance of the British people finally paying off. A Budget for hard working families, who live their lives far from this place and care little for the twists and turns of Westminster politics. People who get up early in the morning to open up factories, shops, and building sites, to drop their kids off at school to check on elderly relatives and neighbours. The strivers, the grafters and the carers who are the backbone of our communities and our economy.

People who ask only of Government that we protect the jobs that put food on their table, that we deliver the public services their families rely on and that we do it efficiently, minimising the amount of tax we need to take from their hard-earned wages. People, Mr Deputy Speaker, who we, on this side of the House, are proud to represent. So I say to them:

This Budget is unashamedly for you. Mr Deputy Speaker, The British people put their faith in us to do the job and today we repay that trust with a Budget that paves the way for a brighter future.

And, Mr Deputy Speaker, let me be clear why: The tough decisions of the past eight years were not driven by ideology.

Mr Deputy Speaker, they were driven by necessity; Driven by the failure of the Party Opposite in Government, which led to our deficit soaring to a post-war record, and our economy suffering the deepest recession since the Second World War.

That, Mr Deputy Speaker, was our inheritance. And, as ever, we did what needed to be done. Now we have reached a defining moment on this, long, hard journey. Opening a new chapter in our country’s economic history. Where we can look confidently to the future…and set our course for where this remarkable country will go next.

Because today, Mr Deputy Speaker, I can report to...