Philip Hammond has said the government cannot ignore the £59bn black hole in the public finances directly related to Brexit, as pro-leave Tories criticised the economic forecast as overly pessimistic. Brexit will blow £59bn hole in public finances, admits Hammond Read moreEurosceptic Conservatives including the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the OBR forecast was “another utter doom and gloom scenario” and criticised the advisory body, which he said “simply hasn’t got anything right”. “The key thing is that the OBR has been wrong in every single forecast they have made so far,” he told Sky News. They can't win argument for hard, destructive Brexit based on truth so have to try and win based on fantasy. Speaking earlier on the programme, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said Hammond had some wrong economic priorities given the uncertain economic climate.

Source: The Guardian November 24, 2016 09:38 UTC