Hammond is an honourable Tory. Now is the time to show it | Phillip Inman

A brave chancellor would ditch his fiscal rules next month and spend on welfare and schools

As Philip Hammond puts the finishing touches to his conference speech he may want to consider a total rewrite. Boring Phil needs to talk to the nation, not his party. It is time for the most senior one-nation Tory (Theresa May is a pretender to this crown) to be a bit more statesmanlike and think about people beyond the audience.

That doesn't look likely though. His announcement last week of an autumn budget (on 29 October), suggested he plans to stick to offering a "balanced approach" to debt "while supporting vital public services, and building a stronger, more prosperous economy".

Inaction would be the coward's way out. It would be much more statesmanlike to ditch his fiscal rules