Philip Hammond says Corbyn’s hard-left plans offer ‘no future’ for Britain in scathing attack on Labour
The Chancellor launched a blistering attack on Labour's socialist plan for Britain in his party conference speech
LABOUR’S “brave new world” of socialism would drive Britain into a ditch, Philip Hammond insisted today as he vowed to tackle hard-left ideology.
The Chancellor told Tory party conference that Jeremy Corbyn "offers no future for Britain'" and urged voters not to be tricked into supporting him.
And he warned that the only way to combat Labour is to set out a robust Conservative agenda - not just offer watered-down versions of left-wing policies.
During his conference speech in Birmingham, Mr Hammond said: “This country now faces a choice.
“A choice between the seductive simplicity of the Brave New World of Corbyn and McDonnell’s populism, where the narrative is all about easy answers and our pragmatism, which is sceptical of ideologues, which starts with the real world we live in, and seeks to make it better and recognises that there are no shortcuts and no free lunches on the road to a better Britain."
He added that capitalist ideas are “rejected out of hand by Corbyn and McDonnell in favour of the failed and faded ideologies of socialism - not because they believe they would enhance economic growth, but because they don’t care about economic growth”.
Mr Hammond continued: “Because they are more interested in re-distributing wealth than in creating more of it.
“Because they value political ideology above real world solutions for real people.
“All they do, is look it up in the Socialist manual. Railways? Nationalise them.
“Wealth? Confiscate it. Run out of money? Just borrow more.
“Answers from a discredited ideology that will never solve real-world problems.”
And he finished his crowd-pleasing speech by saying: "Corbyn’s plan offers no future for Britain. And it is our duty to provide a better answer.
"To make the case for the long term over the short term, for the substantial over the superficial, for evolution over revolution."
He claimed Labour's extreme plans "deserve a response" and warned it won't be enough to offer up milder versions of the left-wing policies favoured by Mr Corbyn.
Mr Hammond said: "We will not outbid Corbyn with short-term gimmicks that cause long-term damage; we will not outspend him with reckless borrowing."
Michael Gove also used his conference speech to hit out at Labour, saying: “Harold Wilson used to say the Labour party was a moral crusade or it was nothing.
“Now Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party is a toxic cocktail of unrepentant Marxism-Leninism and unacceptable antisemitism.
“Let us commit to unite so that the Moscow-loving, Hamas-hugging, high-taxing, moderate-bashing, job-destroying, National Anthem-avoiding, NATO-hating, class war-provoking, one-man museum of economic folly that is Jeremy Corbyn, is never let anywhere near Downing Street.”
But the Chancellor risked sparking a backlash from his own activists as he insisted Britain will have to remain closely tied to Europe after Brexit.
He said: "Whatever the outcome, Europe will remain firmly anchored just a few miles off the coast of Kent.
"Europe remains, by far, our biggest market. And after 45 years of membership, Britain’s economy has shaped itself around that fact."
Mr Hammond predicted a "deal dividend" which will see the UK's economy boom once we strike a trade deal with the EU.
And he laid out a series of policies to boost the economy including:
- A levy on social media giants that don't pay enough tax
- A review of how competition law works in the internet age
- New rules to ensure the Apprenticeship Levy isn't a burden on business
- £100million to help workers retrain so their skills stay up-to-date
Labour hit back at his attack on them - Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "The Chancellor’s speech confirmed the bankrupt state of the Tory party, increasingly irrelevant and cut off from the real day to day life most people experience.
“The Tories are bereft of any fresh ideas, forced to resort to a half-hearted filching of policies from others and desperately trying to revive long outdated slogans."
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