A Tory government will bridge regional divides, give young people a foot on the housing ladder and raise workers’ productivity. And that is just an hors d’oeuvre, according to Philip Hammond, who argued government intervention was needed to protect everyone from the Brexit fallout, especially when they neither voted to be poorer nor to face an uncertain future. The chancellor promised “a new plan for the new circumstances Britain faces” as he junked George Osborne’s austerity programme in favour of pragmatism. He left the Conservative party audience in no doubt that while those ministers negotiating Brexit might be happy to wave goodbye to the single market, the chancellor wants to retain full access. He also explained that Brexit meant abandoning Osborne’s pursuit of a balanced budget by 2020.

Source: The Guardian October 03, 2016 14:35 UTC