Philip Hammond has confirmed George Osborne’s proposed emergency Brexit Budget will not happen.
During the referendum campaign, Osborne said Brexit could trigger a recession that would require a £30bn package of spending cuts and tax rises. The plan was dubbed a “punishment Budget” by angry Brexiteers.
Theresa May replaced Osborne with Hammond last night. And this morning, the new chancellor killed off the plan. He told BBC News he would be making some “carefully considered decisions over the summer” about the economy. “No emergency budget,” he added.
Hammond has also abandoned Osborne’s plan to get rid of the national deficit by 2020. He said the Brexit vote meant the country was now in “new circumstances” which would need a “different set of parameters”.
Boris Johnson is beginning his first day as a Cabinet minister “very excited” to be returning to front-line politics as May’s Foreign Secretary.
His comments came as the Prime Minister prepared to put the finishing touches to her top team.
May’s first night in No 10 saw a flurry of appointments, but the Brexit campaigner’s elevation to one of the four Great Offices of State shocked observers.
Speculation had been rife over whether Johnson would be given a role at all, given his spectacular and enforced retreat from the Tory leadership race, days after leading the Leave campaign to EU referendum victory.
His prominent position in that campaign is likely to have played a role in Mrs May’s decision as she seeks to reunite the Conservatives.
Chris Grayling had been tipped for the Brexit Secretary job that went to David Davis or the Home Secretary role given to Amber Rudd, and as an ally of Mrs May he is likely to get a job.