Philip Hammond’s Brexit no-deal bind

Philip Hammond has got himself into something of a bind over planning for a Brexit ‘no deal’. The Chancellor has ruled out – at least for the time being – spending money on contingency plans for a scenario in which Britain walks away from the EU without an agreement. The problem with this strategy is that it undermines Theresa May’s ‘No deal is better than a bad deal’ approach. Put simply, how credible is the government’s line on being ready to walk away empty-handed if planning for such an outcome takes a back seat for now? It’s also surprising for the Chancellor to rule out preparing for a scenario seen as being a 50-50 bet by some of his colleagues in the Cabinet.

Another problem with the Chancellor’s explicit refusal to commit money to preparing for a ‘no deal’ was also exposed during his appearance in front of the Treasury Select Committee this morning.