Public ‘weary of long slog’ since financial crash’ – Hammond
PHILIP Hammond has indicated the Government will ease austerity as he admitted the public is “weary of the long slog” it has endured since the financial crash.
The Chancellor said the Conservatives were “not deaf” to the message that had been delivered at the ballot box on June 8 and would be looking at the plans it had for cuts to winter fuel allowances and ending the triple lock on pensions.
But Mr Hammond left the door open to raising taxes and said borrowing more is “not the solution”.
“I think people are weary of the long slog,” he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show.
Asked if he would go ahead with £3bn of cuts to local government, he replied: “We’ve set out a series of measures that are already legislated for. We have other proposals that we will now have to look at again in the light of the General Election result and in the new parliament.
“I will be delivering a budget in the autumn and you will find out then what we are proposing.
“There’s not going to be a summer budget or anything like that.”
Pressed on whether the Government would have to change direction, particularly if it does a deal with the DUP, which is opposed to cuts to the winter fuel allowance and the end of the triple lock on pensions, he replied: “We will look at all these things. Obviously we are not deaf. We heard a message last week in the General Election and we need to look at how we deal with the challenges we face in the economy.
“I understand that people are weary after years of hard work to rebuild the economy after the great crash of 200809, but we have to live within our means.
“More borrowing, which seems to be Jeremy Corbyn’s answer, is not the solution.
“We have never said we won’t raise some taxes. Overall, we are a government that believes in low taxes and we want to reduce the burden of taxes overall for working families.”
Sir Vince Cable called on the Chancellor to end the public sector wage cap, saying it will see firefighters left an estimated £1,423 worse off in real terms by 2020-21.
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman said: “The public pay cap was necessary to tackle the massive deficit, but firefighters such as the heroes of the Grenfell Tower disaster cannot be expected to suffer real falls in living standards indefinitely.
“They are already suffering a Brexit squeeze with rising prices and a falling pound. The challenge of public sector pay is an example of why Philip Hammond must win the battle within government to remain in the single market and customs union or the fall in tax revenue will make it impossible to give public sector workers the pay rises they deserve.
“You can’t have an extreme Brexit and decent public sector pay.”
Meanwhile, Philip Hammond has been urged to publish the costs of any deals made with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to prop up a Tory government.
Talks are under way between the Tories and the Northern Ireland party over a potential alliance as Theresa May needs their 10 MPs to govern after her majority was wiped out in the General Election.
However, Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has raised concerns over reports the DUP want to end airport tax on visitors to Northern Ireland, which generated around £90m in 2015/16, according to HMRC estimates.
Abolishing Air Passenger Duty (APD) is one of the DUP’s key demands as it pits Northern Ireland unfavourably against the Republic of Ireland, where the duty has been abolished.
In a letter to the Chancellor, Mr McDonnell said: “I am writing to ask whether the Government has been asked for this measure by the DUP, has agreed to it or is considering it.
“In the interest of basic openness and transparency in government I am writing to ask that you publish any financial measures that have been discussed with the DUP and set out the financial implications of any measures agreed with this party.
“I look forward to a prompt response given the considerable public interest in this matter and its consequences for our public finances.”