Hammond speaks out

Generally speaking, Philip Hammond is one of the Cabinet’s quieter members; a sort of human calculator designed to run a department efficiently and with the minimum of fuss. Which is why his interview with the Sunday Times this morning (£) is so eye-catching. There’s very little that’s understated about it at all.

ConservativeHome’s Matthew Barrett has already put together a useful summary of the main points, so suffice to say that Hammond is dismissive about both Lords reform…

‘He believes the upper chamber “works rather well” as it is and that voters are “probably largely indifferent” on the subject.’

…and gay marriage:

‘He believes gay marriage is too controversial for the government to tackle right now, suggesting it would be “difficult to push through”, “use up a lot of political capital” and “a lot of legislative time as well”.’

And, if that’s not enough, he also has a pop at the Lib Dems for impeding Tory efforts to create ‘a sensible and UK-based approach to human rights’.