A highly politicised, 'end of austerity' budget looms | Larry Elliott

One of Hammond's challenges is to show that eight years of cuts have not caused economic harm

Philip Hammond is a fiscal conservative. He wants taxes to be as low as possible, would like to see the government balancing its books and is unhappy with national debt at its current levels.

The chancellor's problem, as he prepares for the budget, is that he is one of a dying breed. There are no longer many fiscal conservatives around, even in his own party.