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Millionaire Tory Chancellor Philip Hammond has rejected the idea that "vast numbers of people" in Britain live in "dire poverty" - because he doesn't see it.

Mr Hammond said he didn't accept a report by a UN rapporteur which compared poverty and welfare support in the UK to a Victorian workhouse.

In a devastating final report published last month, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Philip Alston said the welfare safety net has been "systematically and starkly eroded" since the Conservatives took power in 2010.

Mr Alston's report warned years of austerity condemn Britain's poorest people to lives that are “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”.

But Mr Hammond, who represents the Surrey constituency of Runnymede and Weybridge, said he didn't accept the expert's findings because it didn't jive with what he sees.

(Image: PA)

Speaking on BBC Newsnight in a prerecorded interview which will air tonight Mr Hammond said: “I don’t accept the UN rapporteur’s report at all.

"I think that’s a nonsense. Look around you, that’s not what we see in this country."

But the millionaire Chancellor - who is worth and estimated £8.2million - may not have to go far to find people living in dire conditions

According to The Campaign to End Child Poverty, 21% of children in Mr Hammond's constituency live in poverty when housing costs are taken into account .

Mr Hammond earns £134,565 from his combined jobs as Chancellor and MP - making him one of the highest paid figures in the government.

The entire council district of Runnymede had just four rough sleepers on a night in 2018, according to government figures.

That compared to almost 1,300 across the capital London.

Mr Hammond added that “of course there are people struggling".

But he said the Conservative government are "addressing these things by getting to the root causes".

He added: “The problem that we’ve got is that for many people the theory of how a market economy is supposed to work, in generating and distributing wealth, is at odds with the practice that they are experiencing.

“That is why we have got to ensure, those of who believe that a market economy is the way to deliver a prosperous future for Britain, is delivering in the way that the text books tell us it will work.

"To the extent that it’s not working, we have got to evolve the system.”

But Labour's John McDonnell slammed the Mr Hammond as "multi-millionaire who lives in a different world to the rest of us".

He added: "He displays a brutal complacency about the scale of poverty and human suffering his austerity programme has created.

“Heartless, without compassion or any sense of humanity, after these remarks he demonstrates he is not fit to hold office and should consider his position.

“It’s not just the United Nations: Human Rights Watch and others have commented on the poverty and inequality under this government. Meanwhile Philip Hammond’s colleagues compete with each other to promise more tax cuts, showing how utterly out of touch the Conservatives are with the problems of today’s society.”

A source close to the Chancellor said: “The Chancellor was referring to Philip Alston’s report on poverty, which others in government have described as ‘barely believable’ documentation and based on a short period time in this country.

“It doesn’t reflect where we are now with the number of people in absolute poverty falling by 400,00 since 2010, nor does it paint an accurate picture of our approach to poverty.

“We spend £95bn on maintaining our welfare system and are focused on supporting record numbers of people in work and boosting people’s income in work.”

In the interview he also said that candidates aiming to become Tory leader must ensure they don't become " Theresa May mark II, stuck in a holding pattern".

In a not so coded swipe at Hard Brexiteers - including front runner Boris Johnson - he added: “An extension of time to try to renegotiate, when the EU have already said they have finished the negotiation and, indeed, have disbanded their negotiating team, strikes me as a not very auspicious policy.”

Asked whether he would prefer no deal outcome or no Brexit , he said "neither is an acceptable outcome".

He said No Deal would be "catastrophic for the country and its economy" and no Brexit would be "seen as a gross breach of faith".

He added: “So we as democrats and we as parliamentarians should be absolutely clear that we cannot tolerate either of those outcomes.

“It means people in parliament having to stop pontificating"