Hammond: Crossrail will stay

Philip Hammond was quietly brilliant as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and it would have been a travesty if he was excluded from the Cabinet. Having avoided assuming the mantle of ‘the most hated man in England’, Hammond has been handed the poisoned Transport brief. A popular saying about frying and pans and fires comes to mind as he will tasked with renewing Britain’s congested roads, baleful airports and Victorian railways amid austerity. Still, he could have been sent to Northern Ireland.

Hammond’s first announcement has been to confirm George Osborne’s pledge that the £16bn Crossrail project will not be cut.

“It’s happening, it’s being built, spades are in the ground… We are making sure that in delivering the project we absolutely optimise value for money.”