Hammond rules out emergency Brexit budget

The new British Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has said there will be no post-Brexit emergency budget, signalling a departure from his predecessor’s economic policies.

On his first full day in the role, he ruled out the “punishment budget” of £30bn (€35bn) spending cuts and tax rises promised by George Osborne in the days before the referendum.

Hammond also refused to confirm he would stick to his predecessor’s announcement that the Government would slash corporation tax to below 15% in a bid to attract business to the UK after the Brexit vote.

And he indicated there would be a departure from the austerity politics that came to define Osborne’s tenure at the Treasury, saying the Government would “reshape our approach”.

Newly-appointed prime minister Theresa May had already announced she would scrap Osborne’s financial rule to run a budget surplus by 2020.

Hammond, who warned of the “chilling effect” of Brexit on the economy in February, refused to be drawn on whether he thought the country was heading for another recession.

He said the “number one challenge” was to stabilise the economy.

Hammond said he would be meeting Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Thursday and would take a view on the state of the economy after a series of meetings.

He said: “Britain is open for business. We are not turning our back on the world.

“We are determined to maintain our outward-looking stance and we are determined to maintain the prosperity of our people and keep on growing the economy and creating jobs in the future, and that’s the message I want to get out there today.

It's been a privilege to be Chancellor these last 6 yrs. Others will judge - I hope I've left the economy in a better state than I found it.

— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) July 13, 2016

“We will do whatever we need to do to restore that confidence and to keep Britain as an attractive destination for businesses to invest and create jobs.” 

May was expected to continue to form her new government on Thursday after making a slew of big appointments within hours of returning to Downing Street after becoming Prime Minister.

The biggest surprise was the appointment of Boris Johnson, who was given Hammond’s old role as Foreign Secretary.

Hammond said he thought that Johnson would be good in the role and that May had put together a team that would work successfully.

It had been suggested Mr Osborne could have been given Foreign Secretary but in the end there was nothing for him and he returned to the backbenches.

Hammond, a comprehensive school educated self-made multimillionaire, was shadow chief secretary to the Treasury in 2010 but missed out on the job in Government because it went to Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander.