What they said…
‘Thanks to the difficult decisions we have taken in the last nine years, and the hard work of the British people, I can report today on public finances that continue to improve.’
Chancellor Philip Hammond
‘We have just witnessed a display by the Chancellor of this government’s toxic mix of callous, brutal complacency over austerity and its grotesque incompetence over the handling of Brexit.’
John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor
‘Against a hugely uncertain political backdrop, the Chancellor has made an admirable attempt to set out a long-term vision for the UK economy, yet remains shackled by Brexit’
Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry