HAM BLAST FOR DOOM MERCHANTS
Chancellor rejects debt warnings
® PHILIP Hammond put on a brave face yesterday as experts warned Britain’s debt hell will last until the 2060s.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed workers will now suffer two “lost decades” without a pay rise.
Reviewing the Budget yesterday, the economic think-tank claimed Britain’s debt mountain will not fall below precrisis levels for nearly 45 years.
But the Chancellor, who visited Leeds with PM Theresa May, dismissed the pessimistic economic forecasts, vowing to “make a success of it”.
Declaring his confidence in Britain’s future, he said: “I have never been gloomy, I am a pragmatist.
“I have tried to set out an optimistic view of Britain after we leave the EU. We have tremendous strength.”
He said the “challenge for us now is to prove [economic experts] wrong” and that higher productivity would lead to higher growth.
Mr Hammond’s Budget was praised by Mrs May. Mr Hammond also dismissed claims the Budget will make buying a house more expensive.
It has been claimed that scrapping stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to the value of £300,000 will push up prices.
But he insisted: “A million first-time buyers will make an average saving of just under £1,700 when they buy.”