In interesting times, we’re stuck with a dull and cautious chancellor

Philip Hammond will tinker boringly around the edges in his autumn statement, and neither the threat of inflation nor weak consumer confidence looks likely to prod him into action

Philip Hammond will be a cautious chancellor: that much is becoming clear. Not for him the fireworks that became a familiar sight whenever George Osborne presented a budget - some of which went off in his face.

Hammond will be less concerned with manufacturing tricks designed to cheer his backbench colleagues than with the fate of manufacturing itself and British industry more widely. In this respect, he is the Conservative party's answer to Alistair Darling - an unflappable curator of the public finances, steering the economy through choppy waters.

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