Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon Philip Hammond MP told a packed Conservative fundraiser in Brentwood that Britain was winning the battle against the deficit left by Gordon Brown and the financial crisis.
The Chancellor is one of life’s impressive chaps. He was a scholar at Oxford, where he took a first. He has deep professional experience having worked on top rungs in property, manufacturing, oil and healthcare. He has the broadest experience in Government having served as Secretary of State for Transport, Secretary of State for Defence, and Foreign Secretary. And, for the past two years, he has had his hands on the nation’s money.
But more impressively than any of this: he went to school in Shenfield. So it was wonderful to watch him return in triumph to tell the good news about Britain’s finances.
We’ve always known the final phase of austerity was going to be the hardest for everyone. But, as the Chancellor was able to tell us, the positive signs are now there to see. The latest data from the Office of National Statistics shows borrowing to be at its lowest level since before the financial crash. More than that, the British economy continues to grow, employment is at its highest since modern records began in 1971, wages are improving and the economy is becoming more productive.
On top of this, interest rates are keeping the cost of borrowing down, and the pound is at a competitive level helping exports. Inflation is falling. And taxes are low. So when he came to speak last week, the Chancellor returned to a hero’s welcome.
There are challenges ahead, but the fundamentals of the British economy are strong and agile. Is it that surprising with a local boy at the helm?