*UNDER CONSTRUCTION* Signal-boosting #ToryBritain truths to the nation. Helping YOU be part of the fightback.
Tory MP for: Runnymede & Weybridge (Surrey, SE England)
First elected: 1997
2017 majority over Labour: 18,050 (35.0%)
Seat at-risk ranking: 253rd (out of 317 Tory MPs)
Government roles:
[Wikipedia entry on Philip Hammond]
[Wikipedia entry on Runnymede & Weybridge constituency]
From The Independent: Philip Hammond‘s income tax cuts will “overwhelmingly benefit richer households” as the squeeze continues for lower-income families, according to one of the first independent analyses of the 2018 Budget.
From Daily Mirror: Tory chancellor Philip Hammond is to slash £1.3 billion from frontline council services in the next 12 months.
From The Independent: Philip Hammond has admitted telling ministers to prepare to make cuts if the UK crashes out of the EU with no agreement.
From The Independent: Philip Hammond has scrapped a planned £150-a-year tax cut for self-employed people, marking the latest government U-turn on a Coalition pledge.
From The Guardian: Nine cabinet ministers, including the prime minister, are making more than £10,000 a year by acting as landlords, a Guardian analysis has found.
Following Jeremy Hunt’s failure to declare the purchase of seven luxury flats that he subsequently rented out, an analysis of the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests shows eight other members of the cabinet own property that is rented out for a five-figure annual sum.
The health secretary was forced in to an embarrassing apology on Friday after it emerged that he had failed to declare a business interest with both Companies House and the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests.
Hunt has amended the register, which now shows that he has a half share of a holiday home in Italy, a half share in an office building in Hammersmith and seven recently acquired apartments in Southampton.
Theresa May and Philip Hammond, who both live in Downing Street, rent out their personal homes in central London. Communities and housing secretary Sajid Javid also rents out property, while Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, rents out two properties, according to the register
The foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the international trade secretary Liam Fox, the minister without portfolio Brandon Lewis – who is also the Conservative party chairman – and the Welsh minister Alun Cairns also own and rent out a property, according to the register.
From Huffpost: Philip Hammond has been criticised after suggesting low productivity rates in the UK could be linked to the employment of more disabled people.
The Tory Chancellor made the claim while giving evidence to the Commons Treasury select committee on the 2017 Budget.
Asked about a fall in productivity rates earlier this year, he said: “It is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including far higher levels of participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement in the workforce, for example of disabled people – something we should be extremely proud of – may have had an impact on overall productivity measurements.”
Anna Bird, director of policy and research at disability charity Scope, said: “These comments are totally unacceptable and derogatory.
From Business Insider UK: Philip Hammond wants to tear up Britain’s green belt land for house building in his budget next month, as he looks for cost-free measures to address Britain’s housing crisis.
The chancellor has been pushing for green belt reforms for months inside the Cabinet, the Times reports, which would be made in an effort to tackle low productivity levels and meet national demand for housing.
From the Daily Mirror: As millions of public sector workers he claims are “overpaid” struggle to meet household bills, Tory Chancellor Philip Hammond enjoys a rent-free life in homes paid for with taxpayer cash.