“The deficit is clearly not under control” says Conservative peer Lord Maude #newsnight pic.twitter.com/kCt47OCx6u

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) September 12, 2017

Truth bullets from Francis Maude on Newsnight last night:

“The deficit is clearly not under control. We are in quite a sustained period of economic growth and yet we still have a budget deficit that is too big. We should be at this stage in a place where the budget deficit has been eliminated and we’re getting towards a surplus. We’re not. So the idea that there is suddenly lots of money around is complete fantasy… I’m not happy that we are giving the impression that we can suddenly spend money to alleviate a particular political pressure point.”

He is right, the Tories have pushed back closing the deficit until 2025, ten years later than they promised. They have added £500 billion to the national debt in 7 years, Hammond now plans to add a billion a week to the burden. Voters who experienced the public sector pay cap over the last 7 years after being told it was necessary to to close the deficit will now be wondering why the same Tories now say it’s okay to splash the cash and kick the can down round. The government’s claim to be pursuing a policy of “sound money” is risible…