The Chancer of the Exchequer has some brass neck to pat himself on the back when economic growth’s slashed by a quarter this year.

Official forecasts it’ll expand by less than 2% in each of the next five years is a poor record, Brexit or no Brexit.

And Hammond has some cheek to shout wages are growing when again forecasts show earnings up by less than RPI inflation – which includes housing costs – in the next couple of years.

Pay packets worth £13 a week below their value 10 years ago is the longest squeeze on record so humility not arrogance is appropriate.

The £100m to fight knife crime is pennies for every pound cut from police budgets.

We’re still enduring a squeeze when Hammond’s "another step on Britain’s road out of austerity" leaves us stuck on a long and winding ruinous Tory ideological path.

Hammond’s right a no deal Brexit would be disastrous although he’s admitted in the past that May’s bad deal would also crunch growth and be costly in the long run.

Labour’s John McDonnell got under Hammond’s skin and judging the Tories by their own tests proves how badly the Conservatives failed.

Tories have added so far added a record £750bn to the £1,000bn national debt.

Instead of balancing the books by 2015 it’ll continue climbing into the next decade.

The debt fetishists might have stopped whipping themselves but they’re still beating us.

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