Philip Hammond brews trouble with his National Insurance hike

Philip Hammond had, in his first few months of Chancellor, gained rather a reputation for being an ‘Eeyore’ about the consequences of Brexit. In the run-up to today’s Budget, it was briefed that he would be much more upbeat about things, while also storing up a ‘war chest’ to guard against any future shocks to the economy caused by Britain leaving the European Union. In the event he barely talked about it at all. 

He told the Chamber that ‘as we start our negotiations to exit the European Union, this Budget takes forward our plan to prepare Britain for a brighter future’, and ’our task today is to take the next steps in preparing Britain for a global future’. And he joked that even though Britain was now forecast to meet its three per cent EU Stability and Growth Pact target this year for the first time in almost a decade, ‘I won’t hold my breath for my congratulatory letter from Jean-Claude Juncker’.