Will Mr Hammond now “reset” fiscal policy?

By freeing the Government from its previous manifesto commitments, the snap general election on June 8th could give the Chancellor Phillip Hammond (if he is still in the position) more elbow room to fulfil his previous pledge to “reset” the stance of UK fiscal policy. But while a slight slowdown in the planned pace of fiscal tightening is possible, it is unlikely that the broad trend of deficit reduction will be materially altered. Regardless of the election outcome, austerity is set to continue for a number of years yet.