The ‘economicky words’ you need to bluff your way into No 11 Downing Street | Stefan Stern

The vultures are circling above Philip Hammond, and one of them is Gove-shaped. But with the right buzzwords, any of us could become chancellor

We've all done it. You're in a job interview, or are trying to send a message to the boss that you are ready for a big step-up. You start using the words that the tall people in suits use. They sound good. They lend you authority - you hope. They make you come across like someone who is ready to play in "the big leagues"- which is precisely the sort of phrase that the tall people in suits use.

Someone in the cabinet has got cross with Michael Gove for doing just that, using "long, economicky words" to send a message that he is ready to take over from Philip Hammond should next week's budget - God forbid - not be a complete triumph.

Related: Michael Gove and Boris Johnson: how did their friendship come out of the deep freeze?

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