Philip Hammond Quotes

[The] era of austerity is finally coming to an end

the first sustained fall in debt for 17 years, a turning point in the nation's recovery from the financial crisis of a decade ago

We have to be a forward-looking nation not a backward-looking nation, and I have to run the defence budget to deliver defence effect in the future, not to preserve regiments or shipyards just because they’ve been there for a long time in the past. And we move on. As a nation we move on.

As my mother told me sticks and stones may break my bones but words don’t hurt me.

Tomorrow [Thursday], we will have the opportunity to start to map out a way forward towards building a consensus across this House for a deal we can collectively support to exit the EU in an orderly way, to a future relationship that will allow Britain to flourish, protecting jobs and businesses.

I am confident we can do a Brexit deal which puts jobs and prosperity first, that reassures employers that they will still be able to access the talent they need, that keeps our market for goods, services and capital open, achieves early agreement on transitional arrangements so trade can carry on flowing smoothly. The collective sigh of relief would be audible. The benefit to our economy would be huge.

Nobody is suggesting that the NHS doesn't have to reform, nobody is suggesting that it doesn't have to become more efficient, that productivity growth doesn't have to become positive … The only difference is that in health, because of the demographic pressure, the savings will all – and more – have to be reinvested in delivering more healthcare.

Parliament will not allow a no-deal exit

I think my position on the same-sex marriage thing probably sums up the kind of conservative that I am. I’m a small c conservative as well as a big C Conservative, and that means that I prefer my change to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and you know I got myself quite comfortable with the institution of civil partnership, but I was then quite shocked by the urge to move on so quickly to the next stage, but I dare say in time I will become quite comfortable with the institution of same-sex marriage, and I suspect I speak for a large number of Conservatives when I say it isn’t so much the substance of the change as the process and things being evolutionary and gradually taking root rather than through tumultuous change which is disturbing to the settled instinct.

If you want my opinion, some of the noise is generated by people who are not happy with the agenda that I have, over the last few weeks, tried to advance, of ensuring that we achieve a Brexit which is focused on protecting our economy, protecting our jobs and making sure that we can have continued rising living standards in the future.

I do agree with him, it would be wrong for a British government to pursue no deal as a policy and I believe it will be for the House of Commons, of which I will continue proudly to be a member, to ensure that doesn't happen.

[No-deal Brexit would be] just as much a betrayal of the referendum result as not leaving at all

It is clear we enter our negotiations to leave the EU from a position of economic strength

I believe that we have to negotiate a better solution that works better for Britain if we are going to stay in and play a part in the European Union in the future, but let me be absolutely clear: I think it is defeatist to sort of say we want to leave the European Union. We should say no, this is a club that we are members of, and before we talk about leaving it, first of all we're going to try and change the rules and change the way it works and change the objectives that it has in order to make it something that works for Britain.

There is no mandate for a no-deal Brexit and a no-deal Brexit will be a catastrophe for the United Kingdom.