The Guardian view on the chancellor’s spring statement: another missed opportunity | Editorial
This week Philip Hammond will rise to make what will be perhaps the most unmemorable speech on the economic state of this country's affairs that MPs have ever heard. Reports say that it will feature no spending increases and no tax changes in a low-key oration designed to go largely unnoticed by the wider public. The chancellor's attempts to keep his speech out of headlines might be derailed by an assessment of Brexit Britain's future annual payments to the European Union. If it were not for a legal requirement to respond to the Office for Budget Responsibility, Mr Hammond would not be saying anything at all.
This is a mistake; Britain is at a pivotal point in its history. It has recovered more slowly from the economic shock of 2008 than any other crash in modern times. UK GDP growth is slowing while our biggest trading partners have seen their economies infused with vigour. Mr Hammond says there is "light at the end of the tunnel". Yet Britain's prospects look dim - and the shade of Brexit is barely upon the nation.
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