You won’t be surprised to learn that Philip Hammond was no big fan of Brexit. But Mr S was still somewhat taken aback by just how little the former chancellor made of Theresa May’s ‘Brexit means Brexit’ strategy:
‘My assessment of Theresa May’s Prime Ministership, in terms of Brexit, is that she dug a 20-foot-deep hole in October 2016 in making that speech’
Hammond was, of course, referring to the speech May made to Tory party conference in her first year as prime minister. But Hammond’s interview, released this week by UK in a changing Europe, has opened up something of a riddle. The Eeyore-ish ex-Chancellor said he had not seen May’s speech in advance and that he was ‘absolutely horrified’ by what his boss had to say:
‘All I remember thinking was, ‘There will be a television camera that will be on your face.
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