The Guardian view of Philip Hammond and Airbus: stand tall for jobs | Editorial

In his big speech this week the chancellor made a general case for soft Brexit. The Airbus disinvestment threat shows that he must sharpen his game

Two years ago this week, Britain voted to leave the EU. One year ago, the chancellor of the exchequer's annual Mansion House speech was cancelled because of the fire at Grenfell Tower. On Thursday, Philip Hammond went ahead with this year's speech to the City. And it was almost as if Mr Hammond had mistakenly brought along the kind of speech he might have given 12 months ago, when the Brexit process was in its infancy. But Brexit is not in its infancy. It is approaching the point of no return.

True, Brexit was inescapably central to the chancellor's prudent case this week. But the content of his speech was of an almost wholly general kind: he wanted a good deal, to protect markets from uncertainty, to uphold low friction borders and open markets, to construct an enduring partnership that recognises that Europe is Britain's most important trading partner. He could - and would - have said all of this in 2017.

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