Philip Hammond making his Spring Statement speech to Parliament
Philip Hammond makes his Spring Statement speech to Parliament © Parliamentlive.tv

This was the budget that wasn’t. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s Spring Statement Philip Hammond had been at pains to tell us how dull it was going to be. And, say what you like about the chancellor, he’s a man of his word.

Treasury allies had briefed heavily in advance: nothing to see here, move along, probably not worth cancelling lunch. 

When this chancellor lets it be known that there will be no surprise announcements, MPs have learnt to believe him. The House was well short of full and if there was a frisson in the air, it was only of mild curiosity.

To be fair to Mr Hammond, this Spring Statement was meant to be dull. It was his attempt to scrap what had become almost twice-yearly budgets, so there were to be no big tax or spending measures. Other chancellors have tried this before but have been seduced by political considerations into a few headline-grabbing announcements. 

But every few chancellors you get one spoilsport who insists on trying to do the job properly. And the thought of defying convention left the man they sometimes call Eeyore declaring himself to be feeling “positively Tigger-like”. 

And, indeed, there was a definite bounce to his tone, if not, perhaps, to his actual words.

Devoted as I am to The House at Pooh Corner, I struggle to recall the passage where Tigger explained the principles of responsible budgeting: “First you work out what you can afford. Then you decide what your priorities are. And then you allocate between them.” 

Unfortunately, Mr Hammond’s plan hit a glitch. He had just been forced to admit that government borrowing was going to be nearly £4.8bn lower than expected. This was unhelpful because no chancellor likes his colleagues to think he has money to spend even if, technically speaking, he doesn’t. For one thing they might ask him to spend it. Worse still, they might insist on a more interesting statement.

And so to forestall this, Tigger Hammond bounced his way through his speech promising nothing but declaring that great things were coming, even if they were not going to be coming today. 

When it came to not spending, Mr Hammond was irrepressible. The chancellor was bumptiously frugal, ebulliently thrifty and exuberantly unextravagant. If there’s one thing Tiggers like, it’s responsible budgeting. 

There were reviews, evidence gathering and a promise that money would be spent if it were still there at the Autumn Budget in November. There was “light at the end of the tunnel” and as we know, if there’s one thing Tiggers love, it’s light at the end of the tunnel.

And it worked. Soon, Tory MPs were bouncing too, not least because here was one of their leaders making the old Tory case for careful management of the economy. 

It is not sexy — it makes for a lousy social media meme — but it is the Conservatives’ core message and his MPs were pleased to hear it, at least until November.

Labour’s John McDonnell berated Mr Hammond for not giving the statement that he had said he was not going to give, and said public services could not wait for more money. 

Austerity, he added, was “a political choice not an economic necessity”. It was not his best effort but the key messages will get through. More than ever one has the sense of two sides talking past each other to the delight of everyone who already agrees with them.

Mr Hammond may struggle, however, to keep his side with him. The real Tiggerish tendency is found outside the Treasury among spending ministers and Tory MPs.

They may have felt bouncy on the day but they now expect a cash bump in the full budget. If there’s one thing Tiggers really like, it’s November.

 

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