‘Theresa May and I have made it clear that we are very committed to returning the public finances to balance,’ said Philip Hammond on the Today programme this morning. But his Autumn Statement did the reverse. It abolished the deadline for balancing the books, and talks instead about keeping the overspend to about 2pc of GDP.
It’s a significant change, and a move away from austerity. The massive shift in debt, towards 90pc of GDP, is something he is choosing with his £23bn discretionary infrastructure splurge. To govern is to choose and as Nick Robinson rightly said, the Chancellor has chosen infrastructure over extra support for the ‘just about managing’.
His statement has chosen different priorities to those we have hitherto seen outlined in the Prime Minister’s speeches – helping those who are ‘just about managing’ by fixing potholes and heavy traffic. I don’t doubt that Mrs May is concerned about the JAMS, or balancing the books.
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