Hammond: Corbyn’s a danger to prosperity

Chancellor blasts false promises of ‘wicked and cynical’ Labour

JEREMY Corbyn’s ‘wicked and cynical’ policies would wreck the economy and turn the clock back to the 1970s, Philip Hammond warned yesterday.

The Chancellor used his set piece speech to the Conservative conference to savage Mr Corbyn’s ‘Marxist’ policies, warning they threatened ‘not only our economic progress but our freedom as well’.

Mr Hammond, who has faced criticism for his gloomy outlook on Brexit, also took the opportunity to strike a more upbeat tone, declaring: ‘Britain will have a bright future beyond Brexit.’

And, with the Budget due to take place next month, he refused to rule out tax rises. But the Chancellor focused much of his speech on the threat posed by Labour.

Tory high command has been alarmed by the surge in support for Labour’s hard-Left agenda, which includes the nationalisation of huge sections of the economy, hundreds of billions of pounds of extra borrowing and the threat of higher taxes.

Mr Hammond said the Tories thought they had defeated socialism in the 1980s, but he warned: ‘We have to step forward and make those arguments again because a new generation is being tempted down a

dangerous path.’ Mr Corbyn admitted last week that Labour is drawing up contingency plans for a run on the pound and a collapse in business investment in the event of a Labour victory.

denouncing Mr Corbyn as ‘ a clear and present danger to our economic prosperity’, Mr Hammond said the reality of a socialist government would be far worse.

He said Labour was ‘ preying on people’s worries, manipulating their fears, luring them with false promises’.

He added: ‘It’s a wicked and cynical business offering superficially simple solutions to complex challenges.’

Mr Hammond said those wondering what a socialist economy would look like should look at Cuba, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

He said last week’s Labour conference had seen the ‘dinosaurs break out of their glass cases’ and shown ‘ Labour in the raw… a party taken hostage by a clique of hard-Left extremist infiltrators who despise our values and talk down our country.’

Mr Hammond accepted that the Government needs to tackle the problem of low pay and listen to the concerns expressed by many young voters, including on housing.

But he said the Tories would fight against the idea that socialism, rather than a market economy, was the answer.

And he urged Mr Corbyn to ‘bring it on’, adding: ‘We will defeat them by the power of argument, by our logic, by the experience of history. We will not resort to … the threats and intimidation, the undertones of lawlessness that were so menacingly present last week.’ Mr Hammond said the history of the 1970s had shown that staterun industries were ‘massively inefficient’, requiring huge subsidies that ‘competed with our public services for scarce resources.’

The Chancellor, one of the leading Remainers in the Cabinet, also struck a more conciliatory note on Europe. He said the economy would remain ‘closely linked to the EU’ following Brexit. But he added: ‘We will not join them on a voyage to ever-closer union.’

Earlier, he repeatedly refused to rule out possible tax rises in next month’s Budget.

Mr Hammond is under pressure to find billions to fund post- election priorities such as public sector pay and housing, while also keeping to the timetable for balancing Britain’s books. He confirmed plans to freeze tuition fees and extend the Help to Buy scheme.

‘Superficially simple solutions’