Why Hammond won’t be pulling rabbits out of hats on Budget day

Normally, the Saturday before a Chancellor’s first Budget would be dominated by discussion about their plans for the economy. But, as I say in The Sun this morning, Philip Hammond would rather not be delivering a Budget next week. He thinks it should be in the autumn, but he has one more Spring one to do before this shift can take place. This, as one Ministerial colleague observes, puts him in a unique position: ‘He’s the first Chancellor in history to play down his first Budget’.

But then, Hammond is not a showman. He’s not interested in producing rabbits out of hats. He’s also cautious about Brexit. He might have started striking a more upbeat note in public, but he still worries that a slowdown is likely at some point as the uncertainty effect begins to bite. So, he won’t spend the extra £12bn that better than expected growth has technically made available.