Chancellor’s car crash
He blunders on self-driving cars, claims NO-ONE’S unemployed and picks fight with NHS in TV disaster
PHILIP Hammond was embroiled in embarrassing rows over unemployment, the NHS and driverless vehicles last night as he prepared to deliver a ‘make or break’ Budget.
Amid growing speculation about his political future, the Chancellor yesterday tried to get on the front foot by pledging action to tackle the housing crisis and striking a more upbeat tone on Brexit.
But his efforts were undermined by a gaffe on unemployment and a row with NHS boss Simon Stevens over funding. Mr Hammond also caused dismay in Downing Street after announcing he would be taking a ride in a driverless vehicle today – sparking a rash of jokes about the fragile state of Theresa May’s leadership.
Last night the planned event appeared to have been cancelled to prevent embarrassing headlines. A Government source said neither Mr Hammond nor the Prime Minister would set foot in a driverless vehicle when they make a visit to the West Midlands today to highlight the Government’s commitment to investing in new technology.
Mr Hammond was forced to issue a correction yesterday after declaring there were ‘ no unemployed people’ during a round of media interviews to promote Wednesday’s Budget.
The comment came as he argued that developments in technology need not lead to mass unemployment. ‘Nobody has a shorthand typist these days, but where are all these unemployed people?’ he said. ‘There are no unemployed people.’
In a separate interview an hour later, Mr Hammond acknowledged that 1.4million were out of work.
Asked about his error, he said: ‘I didn’t mean that. There’s 1.4million unemployed people in this country and that’s 1.4million too many.’
But Labour seized on the slip as evidence that the Chancellor was out of touch. Jon Trickett, Labour’s cabinet office spokesman, said: ‘ The Chancellor is living on another planet.’
Mr Hammond was also caught up in a row over funding after directly criticising the performance of the Health Service.
Mr Stevens has called for an extra £4billion in cash to tackle the growing crisis in the healthcare system. But the Chancellor said he had yet to deliver on efficiency reforms agreed as part of a five-year plan that led to a £10billion increase in NHS funding.
‘I’ll just remind you that Simon Stevens drew up the NHS Five Year View back in 2014,’ he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
‘He was the one who set the envelope of resource that he asked the Government for £10billion extra by 2020. We agreed to fund that and that plan is not at the moment being delivered.’
NHS England hit back, highlighting a number of statements from Mr Stevens claiming the NHS ‘got less than we asked for’ in return for the five-year plan.
Mr Stevens also asked the Government to tackle demand by taking action to address the crisis in obesity and social care, none of which has happened.
Mr Hammond suggested doctors and nurses would get a pay rise next year, linked to efficiency gains: ‘We want to see win-win situations where people can earn more money but in exchange for working practices which allow the service to be delivered more efficiently.’
The Chancellor has been tipped for the sack in a new year reshuffle if this week’s Budget is a flop. He has angered Eurosceptic colleagues with a series of bleak pronouncements about Brexit.
The Chancellor yesterday insisted he did not deserve his gloomy reputation, saying: ‘If you stick your head above the parapet there will be people who take pot shots at it.
‘I spent most of the year listening to predictions of my demise. In the meantime I’m just getting on with the job.’
IT has been billed as Philip hammond’s make- or-break Budget – his chance to restore public faith in the Government’s sureness of touch and demonstrate a clear vision for the country.
To judge by his multiple gaffes yesterday, he’ll need to sharpen up his act before his big day on Wednesday.
Leave aside his insensitive claim that ‘there are no unemployed people’ (true, jobs figures are buoyant, but this is cold comfort for the 1.4million out of work).
Forget, too, his recklessness in picking a fight with the cash-strapped NhS – and the farce over his plan to be photographed in a driverless car, apparently not realising what a gift this would be to satirists.
More worrying by far is why, when he should have been focusing on the Budget, the Chancellor waded into the Brexit debate, hinting he was ready to pay a significantly larger divorce bill than the generous sum pledged by Theresa May.
It is not as if the eU has offered a single concession to justify an improved offer. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has merely issued an ultimatum: cough up much more than the £18billion on the table, or we won’t even discuss our future relationship. Why should we surrender to blackmail? The truth is that millions throughout europe depend for their livelihoods on British markets. They and their governments want a free trade deal quite as much as we do – more so, in many cases, since the UK is a substantial net importer of european goods.
Meanwhile, Brussels bureaucrats panic over how to fill the black hole left in their finances when the eU’s second largest contributor leaves. This makes money one of our strongest bargaining chips. Why throw it away before trade talks have even begun? Why not make Mr Barnier sweat?
Indeed, who but a defeatist would offer a multi-billion pound cheque, without having a clue as to what he might get in return?
In one of his interviews yesterday, Mr hammond protested he didn’t deserve his reputation as a gloom-mongering eeyore, insisting: ‘I’ve always been an optimist.’
he must prove it on Wednesday – or his make-or-break Budget could be his last.