Hammond: Laura K First to Say NI Rise Broke Manifesto Pledge

Philip Hammond tells Alex Salmond the first person outside the chamber to say he had broken the Tory manifesto pledge on National Insurance was the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg. An extraordinary statement – and one which Hammond is defending by arguing disingenuously that the NI didn’t breach the manifesto. Did Downing Street really not realise this would be an issue? Friends of George Osborne say they immediately knew it would be a breach of manifesto when they saw this Times story on a possible NICs rise back on 1 March. Hammond leaving himself open to complete ridicule…

Tags: Budget, Spin, Tories

People: Laura Kuenssberg / Philip Hammond

Seen Elsewhere

Listen: May’s Conference Call With Grassroots | ConHome
Brexit Is Far More than Controlling Immigration | BrexitCentral
May Fails as Brexiteers Burn | Comment Central
May’s Broken Promises | ConHome
Brexiteers or Paper Tigers | ConWoman
Can Zuckerberg Control His Monster? | UnHerd
Varadkar: No Hard Border Deal or No Deal | Irish News
42 Tory MPs Have Sent In Letters | The Sun
Boris: We Must Accelerate WTO Preparations |
Dominic Raab: ‘I Was Hoodwinked’ | The Times
Mrs May Must Bow Out By March | Juliet Samuel
Expect Recession If Brexit Isn’t Sorted Out Soon | Telegraph
No.10 Rebuffs Top 40 Horrors | Speccie
The Top 40 Horrors In Theresa May’s Deal | Speccie
If Politicians Lie, Then Why Shouldn’t I? | UnHerd

Tip offs: 0709 284 0531
team@Order-order.com

Quote of the Day

Dominic Raab wrote in his letter of resignation…

“This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust,” he told the PM, concluding: “I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election… I believe that the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom. I cannot support an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit…”