In last week’s Autumn statement, Philip Hammond appeared to channel his inner Ed Miliband as he banned letting fees and went on a borrowing splurge. Today at Treasury questions, it was Labour’s turn to cross-dress.
After John McDonnell sparked much laughter from Tory benches by referring to Mark Field’s chief of staff — behind yesterday’s so-called Brexit leak — as a senior government official, his shadow chief secretary went on to press Hammond to make a guarantee — as Labour are — that he would keep the triple lock throughout the next parliament. While the pension triple lock — introduced by the coalition — was something George Osborne championed throughout his tenure as chancellor, Hammond appears to have no such agenda. In response to Rebecca Long-Bailey, he accused Labour of making a big spending commitment without knowing how much it will cost:
‘Well, Mr Speaker, this was worth waiting for. We have a firm commitment by the opposition to run the triple lock through the lifetime of the next parliament. I wonder if she knows how much money she has just spent. Without knowing the fiscal circumstances the country will face, what we have said, and the only responsible thing to say, is that all the commitments that we have made for the duration of this parliament we will review at the spending review before the end of the parliament.
And we will decide then which ones we can afford to renew, which ones are appropriate to renew. I think it tells us everything we need to know about the opposition that three and a half year out they are willing to spray around commitments without any idea of what it is going to cost them.’
With Hammond refusing to commit, Labour are doing more to protect pensioners than the Tories for the first time since 2010.
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