Philip Hammond Quotes

In the 2016 referendum, a promise was made to the majority who voted for Brexit - that they were voting for a more prosperous future. Not leaving would be seen as a betrayal of that referendum decision. But leaving without a deal would undermine our future prosperity, and would equally represent a betrayal of the promises that were made.

I take the judgement that when there is a deal on the table that has very, very modest costs to the economy, which will allow us to move on as a nation both economically and politically, I judge that even narrowly, economically that will be in the best interests of the country

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

Once we get a good deal from the European Union and the smooth exit from the EU we will be able to show the British people that the fruits of their hard work are now at last in sight,

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

There is light at the end of the tunnel... but we are still in the tunnel at the moment.

A trade deal will only happen if it is fair and balances the interests of both sides. Given the shape of the British economy, and our trade balance with the EU27, it is hard to see how any deal that did not include services could look like a fair and balanced settlement.

I remember 20 years ago we were worrying about what was going to happen to the million shorthand typists in Britain as the personal computer took over. Well, nobody has a shorthand typist these days, but where are all these unemployed people? There are no unemployed people because we have created 3.5m new jobs since 2010.

[T]here are no unemployed people

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 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.

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

Partly that is because they are simply tired of years of fighting each other and partly it is the galvanising effect of Daesh (IS).

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

So long as the European Union's laws are the way they are, many of them will only have to set foot in Europe to be pretty confident that they will never be returned to their country of origin. Now, that is not a sustainable situation because Europe can't protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social infrastructure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa.