Were the UK to leave with a deal he [the prime minister] would of course release that headroom as additional spending on other priorities. In either scenario the money will be spent, and in either scenario the chancellor believes he will stay within his fiscal rule. Of course, we are seeing some candidates that say they want a no deal but they also want to spend the headroom. I’ll leave it to all of you to make your conclusions. Any new spending commitments or tax cuts made by a new prime minister in the coming months that are paid for by using the so-called fiscal headroom that has been built up – while at the same time leaving open the possibility that these commitments would still take place were the UK to leave the EU without a deal – the candidate and the new chancellor may find such a course of action will not be compatible with the current fiscal rules.

Source: The Guardian June 18, 2019 08:21 UTC