Chancellor backtracks after saying Conservatives should stop fighting and focus on ‘opponents’ on other side of table

The chancellor has backtracked on his description of the EU’s Brexit negotiators as “the enemy” after he tried to portray the feuding UK cabinet as united against Brussels.

Philip Hammond, a leading remainer in the cabinet and one of the most vocal advocates for a soft Brexit, said the Conservatives should stop fighting among themselves and concentrate on the other side of the Brexit table.

In an interview with Sky News he said: “My message is this: I understand that passions are high and I understand that people have very strong views about this but we’re all going to the same place. We all have the same agenda.

“The enemy, the opponents, are out there. They’re on the other side of the negotiating table. Those are the people we have to negotiate with, negotiate hard to get the very best deal for Britain.”

However, he later retracted his words in a series of tweets, saying he “regrets using a poor choice of words” when trying to make the point that the UK cabinet is united at home.

Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) In an interview today I was making the point that we are united at home. I regret I used a poor choice of words (1/2).

Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) We will work with our friends and partners in the EU on a mutually beneficial Brexit deal #noenemieshere (2/2).

His comments came just hours after the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that while Europe had a lot to be grateful to Britain for, “now they have to pay”.

Hammond was speaking in Washington DC at the end of a week of cabinet in-fighting. On Wednesday, he infuriated Conservative MPs pushing for a hard Brexit by saying money would be spent on preparing for a failure to reach a deal with the EU only at the last possible moment.

On Friday he said the Treasury was putting money aside in case Britain crashed out of the EU, and hit back strongly at claims from within the Conservative party that he is too pessimistic about the economy’s post-Brexit prospects.

The chancellor said he had already spent more than £500m on Brexit preparations and that more resources would be provided in the budget next month and during 2018.

“The Treasury and other departments are planning for a full range of outcomes, from a free trade and collaboration agreement right the way through to a breakdown,” Hammond said.

The former chancellor Nigel Lawson has called for Hammond to go, saying he was being “grossly irresponsible” if he was not preparing for a no-deal outcome and describing Hammond’s actions as “very close to sabotage”.



Hammond, who is in the US capital for the IMF’s annual meeting, also refused to say how he would vote if there were a second referendum, but added: “I am working for a Brexit that works for Britain. That is my full focus.”

The chancellor said he did not recognise portrayals of himself as an “Eeyore” spreading doom and gloom about the economy. “I think that is a bizarre observation. I am very optimistic about the future of the UK economy. It is fundamentally strong,” he said.

There were bound to be some short-term problems for the economy, he said, citing a temporary pickup in inflation as a result of the fall in the value of the pound, and a reluctance of businesses to invest because of Brexit uncertainty.

Hammond said he hoped a transition deal with the EU would be agreed by the first three months of 2018 and it was time for Brussels to respond positively to the prime minister’s offer of a deal lasting about two years, in which the UK would continue to pay budget contributions.

“The prime minister in Florence made a big and generous gesture. She expended some significant political capital. The ball is now in the EU’s court.

“Let’s get on with it. When you’re close friends and close working partners and you have a mutual problem that you need to resolve, you sit down and you talk about it and not to talk about it is I think very unproductive behaviour.”

The chancellor said: “It is absurd to pretend that the process hasn’t created some uncertainty in the business community. Businesses crave clarity about our future relationship with the EU and the sooner we get that clarity the better.”



Hammond added: “As soon as the uncertainty lifts, which I hope will be in the next few months, we will see the UK economy powering forward and reaching its full potential.

“I’m committed to delivering Brexit and a Brexit that works for Britain, protects jobs and protects businesses, and allows people to get on with their lives.”

Hammond says it would be “disingenuous” to say the government was not having a discussion with itself about how to take forward the negotiations but said the cabinet was fully behind the prime minister’s Florence speech.

Asked whether he was upset about the calls for him to be sacked, the chancellor said: “There is a group of people who have very clear views about the outcome they want to see. It is not surprising that they will seek to make sure they get the outcome the want.

“I am absolutely committed to delivering Brexit. I hope there is no doubt about that. But I do want to do it in a way that protects jobs, businesses and our future prosperity.”

Hammond said the Treasury no longer stuck by the forecasts made in the months leading up to the referendum. The longer-term forecast said the damage caused to trade and investment would lead to the economy being 6.2% smaller in 2030 than it would otherwise be. A later forecast predicted a deep and immediate recession in the event of a vote to leave.

Hammond said the short-term forecast had been made on the basis of certain assumptions – such as no action from either the Bank of England or the Treasury – which had proved not to be valid.

He added that the Treasury was working with other Whitehall departments on a “more sophisticated” long-term model that would look at a range of possible outcomes.