A treacherous Chancellor and why Mrs May must get a grip
DISMAL, defeatist, relentlessly negative, Philip ‘ Eeyore’ Hammond might just as well run up the white flag to Jean- Claude Juncker and the Brussels bureaucracy.
At every stage in the Brexit process, the inordinately self- satisfied Chancellor has struck a profoundly pessimistic note over the country’s prospects in the wider world outside the European Union.
In defiance of Theresa May, he has called for a three-year transition period after withdrawal, while welcoming the doom-mongering CBI’s calls for an indefinite delay.
He has even claimed ‘literally nobody’ wants an immediate fall in migration after Brexit.
Now he has gone further in his treachery, saying he won’t commit cash to preparing for the possibility of a breakdown in trade talks until ‘the very last moment’.
Thus, he pulls the rug from under our negotiators’ feet, sending a signal to Brussels that ministers are bluffing when they assert their readiness to walk away from the table if they’re offered a bad deal.
Indeed, Mrs May was later forced to slap him down in the Commons, revealing that £ 250 million has already been put aside to prepare for failure to agree.
How much longer can she endure being undermined by the Jeremiah next door?
To cap it all, Mr Hammond yesterday raised the preposterous scare that all flights in and out of Britain could be grounded on the day after Brexit.
Does he really think the British people are stupid enough to believe him?
Does he seriously suppose even the EU Commission’s bibulous president would be reckless enough to wipe out Europe’s tourist industry and inflict untold damage on member states’ airlines and other businesses?
This is George Osborne’s Project Fear all over again. Indeed, it often seems Mr Hammond and his predecessor are willing the economy to collapse, just so that they can jeer: ‘I told you so.’
One thing’s for sure. Mr Juncker and his cronies must be laughing themselves helpless to see the man in charge of Britain’s purse- strings talking his country down and playing straight into their hands.
This paper has immense sympathy for Mrs May, as she juggles with the formidable task of meeting the challenges and opportunities of Brexit, while struggling to keep her party more or less onside. We understand, too, that her innate caution — which can be a laudable quality in a leader — makes her hesitate to speak or act until she has thought problems through from every angle.
But the ineluctable truth is that she needs to get a grip on the Government. And that means delivering an ultimatum to Eeyore: stop talking Britain down — or else!
It is not as if the man is much of a threat to her. With all the charisma of a gloom-laden undertaker, he has no personal following at Westminster. Nor has he so far proved an effective Chancellor. On the contrary, his Budget was a disaster, with his hastily withdrawn plan to attack the self-employed.
Meanwhile, there are capable replacements in the wings.
Take Jacob Rees-Mogg — a committed Brexiteer, hugely popular among the Tory grass roots, whose fogeyish manner masks a formidable intellect and a firm grasp of economics.
Whether First Secretary Damian Green possesses such an intellect is doubtful. On Tuesday, he inexplicably declared that it would have been better if Britain had voted Remain.
What can he possibly hope to achieve by such an assertion, apart from boosting EU negotiators’ hopes of driving a punitive deal?
Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut — or better still, follow the example of Jeremy Hunt and Liz Truss, former Remainers who say they would now vote for Brexit if they had a second chance?
As a high priority, Mrs May should also seek a new Tory chairman, with the energy and passion to revive the party’s flagging spirits and inject optimism over our future after Brexit.
At the earliest opportunity, she needs a reshuffle to stamp her authority on the party and give new talent the chance to revive the Cabinet.
What is absolutely clear is that this lack of grip cannot go on. At this crucial juncture in our history, we need a Government with vision and purpose — not half- hearted, lugubrious appeasers like Mr Hammond.
Is it too much to ask, as a minimum requirement, that senior ministers should respect the wishes of the people — and actually believe in Britain’s future?