Hammond Spends His U.K. Budget Windfall Buying Votes for May

Chancellor splurges cash to keep lawmakers and voters onside
Improved economic data came day after premier’s EU humiliation

McDonnell says Hammond’s budget shows that austerity isn’t coming to an end.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Robert Hutton, Jess Shankleman, and Kitty Donaldson

October 29, 2018 at 8:59 PM UTC

Updated on

October 30, 2018 at 10:53 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Government forecasters handed Philip Hammond a large bag of cash last month. He decided to spend it buying votes for Theresa May.

In the very short term, the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer was winning lawmakers’ support to get his budget through, after Brexiteers in the Conservative Party and its Northern Ireland allies had talked about using it to protest the prime minister’s strategy for leaving the European Union.