EU’s ‘uncertainty’ hurting economy, says Hammond

PHILIP Hammond has taken a swipe at the European Commission for damaging the economy by creating “uncertainty” in Brexit negotiations.

Giving evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, the Chancellor said that Britain’s economic outcomes post-Brexit are “positive”.

But he warned that the biggest challenge was the “uncertainty of the Brexit negotiations”.

His comments come after the Daily Express revealed that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has told friends that he will be preparing the case for no deal with the EU being better than the status quo.

While Mr Hammond has been the leading advocate for a transition period, the Chancellor’s comments appear to reflect growing frustration in the Government with the intransigence of the European Commission.

Senior government sources have raised the prospect of the UK walking out of talks over the EU’s demands that it pays a divorce bill of £78billion and continues to be run by Brussels through the European Court of Justice.

Mr Hammond also told the committee that the next Budget will be delivered on November 22.

It will be the first Budget since Theresa May’s gamble on a snap general election backfired.

The Chancellor has previously indicated that the autumn Budget will become the major financial statement of the year.