It’s day two of Conservative party conference and the Tory wars are in full swing. This morning it’s the turn of Philip Hammond to cause trouble. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Chancellor repeatedly mocked Boris Johnson, saying that his former cabinet colleague is incapable of grown-up politics. But while Hammond was happy to dish it out, on his morning broadcast round just now he seemed somewhat more shy about repeating his criticism of Boris:
Chancellor Philip Hammond denies saying @BorisJohnson is "incapable of grown-up politics".
Asked about his criticism of Boris being incapable of grown up politics, Hammond had this to say:
‘No I didn’t say that at all. I said Boris has his own way of doing things.’
Over on the Today programme, Hammond was also fronted up about his remarks. Again, he did his best to avoid the subject:
‘I don’t want to talk about Boris Johnson or anyone else in particular.
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Some wise person – I have a strong sense it may have been our own Christopher Fildes – once offered a compelling theory of the cyclical nature of financial crises. They happened, he argued, shortly after the last person at the bank to remember the most recent crash reached retirement age and cleared his desk.
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