Theresa May finally lost patience with Philip Hammond last night as Tories described the build up to the Chancellor’s Budget as the worst in memory
Theresa May finally lost patience with Philip Hammond last night as Tories described the build up to the Chancellor’s Budget as the worst in memory.
Downing Street was forced to rush out an announcement on school funding to off-set concerns over the lack of fanfare surrounding Mr Hammond’s Budget.
The Treasury had insisted that no policy announcements would be made, however it was forced into a spectacular U-turn just hours later.
It came about after Mr Hammond’s Budget was released to the media last night, with Tory MPs criticising it as lacklustre and for not mentioning Brexit.
Two hours later, a £177 million plan was revealed, in which schools and sixth forms in England would be given £600 for every additional student taking A-level maths or core maths qualifications.
A £42 million fund will also support £1,000 of training for every teacher in selected schools in areas that have ‘fallen behind’.
The public U-turn is unlikely to have done much to strengthen the relationship between Mr Hammond and Mrs May.
The Budget is seen as ‘make or break’ for the Chancellor amid calls from Tory backbenchers for him to be sacked and replaced by someone more upbeat about Brexit.
A Cabinet source told the Daily Telegraph that the Budget needed to be ‘spectacular’ in order for Hammond to keep a hold on his job.
A gaffe-ridden Budget could also spell disaster for Mrs May’s government which is reeling from sex harassment scandals, Cabinet resignations and the threat of defeat on the Brexit Bill.
Downing Street was forced to rush out an announcement on school funding to off-set concerns over the lack of fanfare surrounding Mr Hammond’s Budget
And Mr Hammond’s room for manoeuvre has been squeezed after figures revealed yesterday showed borrowing has unexpectedly risen.
While the deficit in public spending remains at its lowest level for a decade, the increase lays bare the tight room for manoeuvre Mr Hammond has tomorrow.
Continued borrowing means Britain’s national debt pile continued to rise toward £2trillion.
He will present his latest Budget at 12.30pm alongside new forecasts for the economy drawn up by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
He is expected to announce plans to scrap the one per cent public sector pay cap with nurses front of the queue to get a wage boost.
But there is speculation he will not provide any extra money to fund salary increases – potentially squeezing budgets in services like the NHS further.
The public U-turn is unlikely to have done much to strengthen the relationship between Mr Hammond and Mrs May
The Government has faced mounting pressure to get rid of the cap to help public sector workers meet the rising cost of living after seven years of pay restraint.
And he has already announced plans to build another 300,000 new homes a year, pave the way for driverless cars on British streets by 2021, and crate Millennial railcards in plans he will flesh out tomorrow.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: ‘The deficit has still not been eliminated as they promised it would be by 2015, and the national debt continues to grow.
‘The rise in the Government’s deficit over October shows once again that seven years of Tory spending cuts have caused pain and misery for millions with little to show for it.
‘It further highlights why it is so vital that we see a change of course in the Budget tomorrow, halting the growing emergency in our public services and ending their failed austerity policies.
‘The next Labour government will set out a serious plan for the public finances with strategic investment underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule, to help build a high-wage, high-skill economy for the many not the few.’
Continued borrowing means Britain’s national debt pile continued to rise toward £2trillion