Philip Hammond rebukes Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt over big-spending Tory leadership pledges saying No Deal Brexit would DESTROY his £26billion Treasury ‘warchest’
- Tory leadership contenders have been busy pledging billions for their policies
- Chancellor Philip Hammond warned No Deal would eat up his £26bn warchest
- Jeremy Hunt vowed corporation tax cuts and Mr Johnson public worker pay rises
Philip Hammond (pictured in Westminster last week) delivered a withering response after Tory leader hopefuls pledged billions of pounds for their favoured policies
Chancellor Philip Hammond launched a searing rebuke to free-spending Tory leadership contenders today – warning none of their plans will be affordable if there is no Brexit deal.
Mr Hammond delivered a withering response after both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt pledged billions of pounds for their favoured policies.
He insisted the ‘fiscal firepower’ that has been stocked up would be needed entirely to counteract the effects of departing without an agreement.
Mr Hunt today vowed to put Whitehall on a war footing for No Deal as he unveiled a £20billion plan to brace for hard Brexit.
The Foreign Secretary said he would immediately order the government to work on the assumption that there will not be an agreement – and threatened to cancel all holidays for senior civil servants.
He insisted ‘turbocharging’ preparations for No Deal would send a message the EU that the UK is ‘willing and able’ to walk away if negotiations fail.
He also reiterated that he would go ahead with billions of pounds of cuts to corporation tax regardless of whether there was an agreement.
In a series of sharp swipes at Mr Johnson, Mr Hunt warned ‘belief’ and ‘rhetoric’ was no substitute for meticulous planning – and said it was wrong to minimise concerns about the potential impact of leaving without a deal.
Meanwhile, the Tory front runner has vowed to loosen the purse strings in Downing Street, with his Cabinet backer Matt Hancock saying there was now ‘money available’.
Mr Hancock said: ‘Now that there’s money available we need to show the public sector some love – they do a brilliant job for the country,
‘People in the public sector need to be properly rewarded for the brilliant job they do.
‘Higher pay, not higher taxes, means a pay rise for everyone, including in the public sector.’
But writing on Twitter on Monday, Mr Hammond said the £26billion of headroom he had carefully built up to prepare for Brexit was not something that could be relied on for pet policies.
‘The ‘fiscal firepower’ we have built up in case of a no-deal Brexit will only be available for extra spending if we leave with an orderly transition,’ he wrote.
‘If not, it will all be needed to plug the hole a no-deal Brexit will make in the public finances.’
Boris Johnson (pictured out campaigning in Orpington with Remain-backing brother Jo today) has vowed to loosen the purse strings in Downing Street, with his Cabinet backer Matt Hancock saying there was now ‘money available’
In a speech in London today (pictured), Jeremy Hunt said he would order the government to work on the assumption that there will not be an agreement
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