Post by fretslider on Mar 16, 2017 7:36:22 GMT -5
After the farcical budget where the governing party broke an election pledge on taxation, even though the change was fair and made sense it had to be dropped.
Mrs May caved in pretty much instantaneously...
The Chancellor is fighting to salvage his reputation. We are not at the stage where Philip Hammond is about to lose his job, but figures across the Tory party and government are wondering how he can recover from yesterday’s humiliation. He is getting it from all sides this morning:
The Telegraph says May told Hammond “I don’t care how bad it is for you”, they report he is now “on probation”
The Times says Theresa May’s aides “strong-armed” him into the u-turn and “punished him” for briefing against them last week, Number 10 told him the NI rise was a bad idea “but Philip wouldn’t listen”
The Spectator says Hammond’s credibility is “in tatters”, that he has “endangered wider credibility”, and accuses him of a “staggering lack of basic political competence”
The Sun says he has been forced to “grovel” to its readers
Peston says he wouldn’t bet on Hammond still being Chancellor beyond the summer
William Hill slashed the odds on him going before the election, first to 7/2, then to 5/2
Publicly Tory MPs are saying Hammond’s ability to admit he was wrong and change his mind shows he is the right man to be Chancellor. In reality it was not his choice – May made the decision – and it was not even her choice, Tory backbenchers have proved the government is so weak that just a handful of rebels can hold them to ransom. Backbenchers are emboldened, Downing Street is chastened.
order-order.com/2017/03/16/hammond-battered-by-all-sides/
This will not go unnoticed in Brussels.
Mrs May caved in pretty much instantaneously...
The Chancellor is fighting to salvage his reputation. We are not at the stage where Philip Hammond is about to lose his job, but figures across the Tory party and government are wondering how he can recover from yesterday’s humiliation. He is getting it from all sides this morning:
The Telegraph says May told Hammond “I don’t care how bad it is for you”, they report he is now “on probation”
The Times says Theresa May’s aides “strong-armed” him into the u-turn and “punished him” for briefing against them last week, Number 10 told him the NI rise was a bad idea “but Philip wouldn’t listen”
The Spectator says Hammond’s credibility is “in tatters”, that he has “endangered wider credibility”, and accuses him of a “staggering lack of basic political competence”
The Sun says he has been forced to “grovel” to its readers
Peston says he wouldn’t bet on Hammond still being Chancellor beyond the summer
William Hill slashed the odds on him going before the election, first to 7/2, then to 5/2
Publicly Tory MPs are saying Hammond’s ability to admit he was wrong and change his mind shows he is the right man to be Chancellor. In reality it was not his choice – May made the decision – and it was not even her choice, Tory backbenchers have proved the government is so weak that just a handful of rebels can hold them to ransom. Backbenchers are emboldened, Downing Street is chastened.
order-order.com/2017/03/16/hammond-battered-by-all-sides/
This will not go unnoticed in Brussels.