"We need to maintain our commitment to fiscal discipline... as we forge our vision of Britain's future in the world." This is what Hammond said shortly before his first pre-Brexit Budget.
Except we already know what the government’s "fiscal discipline" for the working class looks like: more cuts in benefits for the disabled and the working poor, the loss of tax credits beyond the second child and the loss of housing benefits for the under-22s. As for local services - there are not many left as it is, but more face cuts every day.
And this, while the pound's Brexit slump (which the government never mentions) is threatening to catch the working class in an inflationary spiral!
Yes, Hammond's "vision of Britain’s future", is all about boosting the bosses' profits and lining their shareholders’ pockets: the further cut in corporation tax which is due, will increase profits and dividends even more. And the big cut in inheritance tax will provide a tiny minority of very rich with a big bounty!
Clearly, Hammond’s "fiscal discipline" doesn't apply to his capitalist masters, who have already been awarded £9bn in tax cuts - but only to the working class, which is facing £13bn worth of welfare cuts!
The car bosses' Brexit cake
But cuts and handouts are just the tip of the iceberg - a foretaste of what the Tories have in store, while they're tidying up their Brexit mess.
Hammond's "experts" let the cat out of the bag last month, when they predicted that the turmoil caused by Britain leaving the EU would result in an additional £122bn in borrowing. In fact, he was said to have set aside £60bn already, as a "contingency fund" in the run-up to Brexit.
By what sort of conjurer's trick has Hammond suddenly pulled so much money out of his bag - amounting to over 40% of the entire NHS budget!? Hasn't he been crying poverty and invoking "deficit reduction" and "fiscal discipline" to justify his latest round of welfare cuts? But, above all, what are these billions actually meant to be used for?
May's famous "secret letter" to car giant Nissan-Renault is part of the answer. According to May, it "convinced" the company to produce a new model at its Sunderland plant, despite Brexit. She refused to say anything about its actual content, claiming that it was too "sensitive" (did she mean too costly?). However, Nissan has been less discreet, publicly reminding May that the future of the Sunderland plant could be at risk, unless she puts £100m on the table towards building up a network of British-based car part suppliers.
Other companies are angling for a share of the Brexit cake - like Ford, by threatening job cuts at its Bridgend plant. There is no doubt that Peugeot did too, before buying Opel-Vauxhall and that there have been many other "secret" talks between ministers and big companies.
Behind their heaps of lies
Of course, Hammond's "contingency fund" may well have to be used to pay the government's debts to the EU - regardless of Tory politicians' posturing about "not paying a penny". But, judging from what we already know and from May's own pledge to help companies with increased costs as a result of Brexit, this fund is just as likely to be used to feed the bosses' parasitism - whether it be in the form of more tax cuts, or direct subsidies.
No wonder May insists on keeping everything under wraps, away from public scrutiny. Otherwise she might have to shed light on some very unpalatable realities and not just her willingness to give in to the bosses' parasitic greed.
Indeed, whatever official statistics may claim about the "resilience" of the economy since the referendum, the reality is somewhat different. Their higher-than-expected "growth" figures conceal the fact that much of this "growth" is due to inflation, both in retail and in real estate.
But why should we care, anyway, about their "growth", if it only manages to produce an increasing level of poverty and inequality across society, more and more bogus casual jobs and the collapse of vital public services, whether it be the NHS, social care, or social housing?
Over the past 7 years we've been told that cuts were the way of cutting the debt and deficit. Yet, last year, Britain still had the 4th highest deficit and 6th highest debt as a proportion of total production, among the world's 28 largest economies! Why? Simply because of the capitalists' parasitism. And we can be sure that they'll make the best of Brexit to suck out even more profits at the expense of the working class.
So, yes, enough is enough! It's high time these parasites and their politicians were stopped!