Theresa May and Philip Hammond Election 2017

And get the best deal for the United Kingdom and Europe, me or Jeremy

Corbyn. And our economic security will be on the ballot paper on the

8th of June. Over the last seven years, thanks to the hard work of

the British people and the credible economic plan we have pursued in

government, significant progress has been made. We have taken the British

economy out of the danger zone and begun to repair the damage done to

it by Labour. The deficit has come down by almost three quarters as a

share of GDP. The UK economy has grown at one of the fastest rate in

the developed world. Employment has increased by 2.9 million since

Labour were in power. We should never forget what those numbers mean

for ordinary working families. , they mean a better future bloggers

-- more security, more tax revenue to spend on vital public services

like the NHS, schools and events. Just today, we have seen that the

work of fixing Labour's economic mess continues. The government has

sold its remaining shares in Lloyds banking group as we continue to

repair the damage to our banking sector and today's employment

figures show that our credible economic policies are continuing to

deliver greater economic security for families across the country. But

none of this happened by accident. Our economic progress has been

dearly won and could easily be lost if the wrong policies were pursued

in the years ahead. It is frankly all at risk. Any party which asked

the British people to entrust them the responsibility of forming the

next government through the crucial years of our Brexit negotiations and

beyond must demonstrate that it has the credible economic plan and the

capable team to safeguard our economic security. No one good look

at what Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour Party offered yesterday and conclude

that it passed the test. -- no one could look. The risk which a Jeremy

Corbyn led government would pose to the economy has been laid bare. But

manifestos are also a test of something else. They are a test of

leadership. Later this week, I will publish my body's manifest over the

next five years. Unlike Jeremy Corbyn's fantasy wish list of easy

promises, paid for with imaginary money, I will set out in detail the

five great challenges our country's -- our country faces over the next

five years and layout how we will tackle them. While Jeremy Corbyn and

Labour retreat into an ideological comfort zone, ducking the difficult

challenges which lie ahead I will be straight with people. I won't shy

away from facing the challenges of our time. Rather, I will set out how

we will tackle them head-on. Because that is what leadership is about.

And on this key test, Jeremy Corbyn has failed once again. If you can't

show real leadership of his party now, how could he lead our country

through Brexit? How could he sit down and the prime ministers,

president and chancellors of Europe and get a deal for Britain. At this

election, only be strong and stable leadership of me and my team. Can

deliver this excess or Brexit our country needs. Face up to the

challenges which lie ahead and improve the lives of everyone in our

country. It will be strong leadership and credible policies for

a better future. That starts with getting the right Brexit deal for

Britain, which locks and economic security for our country. The

weakness of Jeremy Corbyn and the chaos of the coalition which will

put him into Downing Street. And with it, the future prosperity of

families across our country. And the Chancellor will now say more about

that. Thank you, Prime Minister.

Yesterday, the Labour manifesto confirmed what we already suspected,

that they do not have a credible plan for our country's future and

they cannot be trusted with our country's finances. What we saw

yesterday is only the latest in a catalogue of chaos. From Labour.

Throughout this campaign, Labour has shown time and time again that they

lack the basic competence and credibility to govern this country.

We have seen Jeremy Corbyn and his closest lieutenants exposed as being

simply not up to the job. Shadow Chancellor, the self-confessed

Marxist John McDonnell, does not know how big the deficit is. The

Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, at one stage was suggesting you

could employ a police officer for ?30 per year. The Shadow Education

Secretary Angela Rayner could not tell us how many children their

class size policy would affect. And yesterday, the Shadow Foreign

Secretary, Emily Thornberry, was unable to explain Labour's policy on

benefits. Labour have simply become a shambles. And as yesterday's

manifesto showed, their numbers simply do not add up. Now that

Jeremy Corbyn has published his manifesto in full, we have been able

to update the analysis which David Davis and I published previously. We

can now set out the full damage is nonsensical plans would do to the

nation's finances by 2021 - 22. The new dossier of analysis we have

published today shows that there is a ?58 billion black coal in Jeremy

Corbyn's plans in just one year alone. -- black hole. Proposal after

proposal in Labour's manifesto mean more borrowing and more debt from

uncosted promises to increase benefits, two unexplained threats to

seize control of private companies. These plans, many of them it can be

questionable in themselves, simply do not add up. Any shred of economic

credibility which Labour had left has now been buried by Jeremy Corbyn

and his acolytes. And this matters to families across the UK. The

economic chaos which would hit our country if Labour were in a position

to implement the shambolic package of policies they unveiled yesterday

would leave every household in Britain counting the cost. The price

of Labour's payers would be felt in higher taxes and steeper mortgage

bills for working families. -- the price of Labour's chaos. This

economic chaos would mean higher running plummet, robbing families of

the peace of mind and security which comes with the job. It would mean

more borrowing, throwing away all of the hard earned progress of the last

seven years and take us right back to square one with a growing

deficit, growing debt, and increasing financial uncertainty for

the next generation. Labour's manifesto is a plan for an

ideological view which would mean economic chaos for the many. Only

Theresa May and her Conservative team have a plan to lock in economic

security and build a better future for our country. The stakes at this

election could not be higher. A vote for any other party is simply too

big a risk to take. Thank you. APPLAUSE

Thank you very much, Philip. We will now take questions. Laura. Thank

you, Prime Minister and Chancellor. You have attacked the Labour plans,

not surprisingly, but if increasing tax and spending overall is such a

bad idea, why has it continued to happen under a government that you

have both been part of for seven years? You have repeatedly missed

your deficit targets and you even still have a black hole in your most

recent budget, Chancellor. If I may, the Chancellor this morning rather

candidly admitting occasionally swearing in rows with number ten. If

Arnaud Djoum, you are re-elected, will you still be next-door

neighbours? -- if after June, you are re-elected. I will ask the

Chancellor to respond as well but first, let's be clear about what we

are saying about the Labour Party manifesto, it simply does not add

up. What we see if this is the ?8 billion black hole we have

identified in their figures. But what matters is that these are large

numbers but also the impact it has an ordinary working families. And it

means people will be paying the price of Labour, they will pay the

price in higher taxes, lower wages, higher prices and an economy which

will be in chaos. The key thing is that over the last seven years, we

have shown we have a credible economic plan and we have a credible

economic plan for the future, to take us forward, to ensure that we

get the right deal for Brexit but also locked in our economic

security. I think it is true to say that the Chancellor and I and every

other member of my team focused on the 8th of June. Our focus is on

winning the general election because it matters for the future of

country. What I candidly admitted this

morning, and my family will confirm this, is that I do occasionally

swear. The difference here between us and Labour is, Labour does not

believe in balancing the budget. The Prime Minister has said many times

that as a country, we have to get back to living within our means, we

have to do that in a sensible and measured way, which balances the

needs of deficit reduction with the needs for balancing the economy and

the needs of our public services and, but we do have to do it. Labour

does not believe in reducing taxes, Labour believes in increasing taxes.

We are a low tax party by instinct. Conservatives will always cost you

less in tax. You're is missing tensions between you and No 10, Mr

Hammond, but I think many people will want to know how bad relations

really have got and whether you will still be Chancellor of the election

if you win? Look, we work very closely together, the Prime Minister

and I have known each other for many, many years. She has got an

extremely strong team around her, I work very closely with hurting, some

of them are people that I have known for many, many years. We do work

very well together as a team, and all this media tittle tattle is just

that. Prime Minister, yesterday, when we were at that screw fix for

me, a father of five who takes home ?300 a week asked you twice about

how you would help him cope with the cost of living, and he is right,

isn't he, because new figures show inflation running at 2.7%, while

weekly earnings are now running at 2.1% in the three months to March.

You admitted to him that Brexit was partly to blame for his family's

struggles - are you now saying that EU also said there would be a of

years of uncertainty. Do you now say that there will be a squeeze on the

cost of living for workers until Brexit is complete? If I may, I did

not actually say that Brexit was responsible for trouble that he had.

I did say that we had of course seen an impact on inflation from changes

to the currency over the last few months, and that, as everybody

knows, we are going to a negotiation on Brexit over the next two years,

and the final deal, that special relationship, special partnership

that we want to build with Europe, will be part of those negotiations.

There are two ways of looking at the impact of cost of living for people.

One is, our desire to ensure that people are in work and that we see

are economy generating higher paid jobs. That's what we want to see.

But if you're going to do that, you have to make sure you have a

credible plan to build on the strength of the economy and not

destroy it with the sort of policies that we have seen from the Labour

Party yesterday in their manifesto. And then, on the other side of the

equation, in terms of cost of living, of course, we can help

people in certain areas, and that's exactly what we're proposing to do

in of energy costs, which as you know, the regulator said the

customers of the big six suppliers are paying ?1.4 billion more a year

than they would if the market was truly competitive. That's why in

government we would take action on that. 2.9 million new jobs, net new

jobs, since 2010, our economy is one of the fastest-growing developed

economies in the world. Yes, of course we have some inflation

passing through the economy, but it will be transient, it is a result of

currency movements last year. And the OBR forecasts that in every year

of the five-year forecast period, real wages will continue to

increase. As the Prime Minister says, the long-term answer to this

question is that only by building a strong and resilient economy can we

deliver sustainable economic road and sustainable, rising living

standards. There is no other way of doing it. It is not done by writing

in a Labour manifesto that we will do this or that. That will not

deliver sustainable, rising living standards, only getting the

fundamentals of the economy right will do that. That requires a good

exit deal and it requires strong leadership to consolidate the gains

that we've made in our economy over the last seven years. A question to

both of you, which verges into the area of political philosophy, I

think. Without asking you to pre-empt your manifesto tomorrow,

philosophy of taxation, would you like to see a shift in the balance

of taxation away from work and enterprise and onto wealth? My

overriding philosophy of taxation is actually that we should be as low

tax a country as possible. It is in that way that we can ensure that

businesses are investing here and creating jobs and that people have

more of their own money to spend. That is my tax philosophy. I think

we have got a challenge as the economy changes shape. That sounds

like yesterday's question. As we move into more digital globalised

economy, the challenge is, how we tax that changing pattern of

activity, how do we make sure that companies operating digitally in the

global economy, who may have a big footprint in the UK but not

necessarily a big tax presence, how do we make sure that they pay their

fair share? This is an international bastion, who only dealt with by

agreement between nations, and Britain has led in the G20 and other

forums in taking forward this debate about how we are going to make sure

that our tax system evolves as the shape of our economy will evolves,

so carry on supporting rising living standards. That is the challenge.

Question to each of you. You have spoken about reducing the deficit,

can you commit today by when, under your chancellorship you would

eliminate the deficit? Prime Minister, you will be very aware of

the other side of the Atlantic, the White House, and allegations of

spying and what is going on with Donald Trump - do you have full

confidence in Donald Trump? Shall I take that last one? We have a very

special relationship, as you know with the United States of America.

This is the most important defence and security relationship that we

have around the world. I was very pleased when I went to the United

States shortly after President Trump's inauguration and he was able

to commit to his 100% commitment to Nato, which is and important bedrock

of our security and that of Europe. We continue to work together and we

have confidence in their relationship between us and the

United States, which helps to keep us all safer. Nobody should be in

any doubt about our commitment to getting the country back to living

within its means, that is essential if we are going to build a

sustainable economy for the future. As to the exact timetable, you will

have to wait, I'm afraid, until the manifesto was published -- is

published. Prime Minister, you've dealt with security matters, you've

dealt with stuff coming from sensitive sources - does the fact

that the President of the United States seems willing to discuss

things really with people in the Oval Office, from Russia or

wherever, does that make you more reluctant to share British

intelligence with the US? Decisions about what President Trump discusses

with anybody that he has in the White House is a matter for

President Trump. We continue to work with the United States and to share

intelligence with the United States space we do with others around the

world, because we are all working together to deal with the threats

that we face. The key threat being that of terrorism, predominantly

from Daesh but we must never forget that Al-Qaeda is still out there.

That is an important part of maintaining our national security,

and we will continue to do so. To accept that Brexit is to blame for

the 17% slide in sterling since June's referendum, and if you don't,

what do you think is the reason? If you look at what happened to

sterling, sterling had started to fall back before the referendum vote

came through. So, there have been adjustments to sterling, and if you

look, it is not just that sterling has gone down, we have seen it move

around a as currencies do. What matters to any government is that we

have a credible economic plan that is able to ensure that we can deal

with the circumstances as they develop. The key thing is to get

started straight after the election with the Brexit negotiations will

make progress as quickly as we can to get the best possible deal for

Britain. Business hates uncertainty, everybody knows that. The sooner we

can create certainty about Britain's future relationship with Europe and

about how people will be able to operate their businesses, the better

it will be for the British economy. That means strong and determined

leadership in those negotiations, and it's very clear to me that

Jeremy Corbyn cannot provide that leadership. Sorry, I don't know

everybody's name, so... Daily Telegraph. A question for both of

you, if I may. Labour has unveiled plans to put up taxes on the top 5%

of earners - can people earning more than ?80,000 expect to hear

similarly bad news in the Conservative manifesto? First of

all, you will not be surprised when I say that we will be setting out

our policies in the manifesto, when we publish it tomorrow. But if you

look at the issue of taxation, let's just look at our record in

government. We have taken 4 million people out of paying income tax

altogether, and 31 million people have seen a tax cut. For a basic

rate taxpayer, that has been worth about ?1000 a year. I come back to

the point Philip made earlier, that actually, there is a very clear

choice between the two parties, it is between a Conservative Party

which has always believed in lower taxes and continues to be a low tax

party and will continue to be so, and Labour, whose natural instinct

is to put up taxes. The election will not just be about taxes, it

will be about jobs lost and higher prices for the consumers, what we

see from Labour's manifesto is that it is ordinary working families up

and down the country who will pay the price. It is worth reminding

ourselves of where we are today. Top 1% of income earners pay 87% of all

the income tax collected in this country. That is a higher

percentage... page 27%. Briefings, if I may.

Firstly, the Conservative position, on families just managing to get

right, and ordinary workers, can you explain why it is a bad idea to put

a payroll tax on salaries of ?330,000 or more. And, Prime

Minister, can you give us an endorsement of the Chancellor? I am

happy to do so, yes! Very happy to do so! Is Philip says, we have

worked together for many years, longer than we would care to

identify, I think! That is an age-related comment, nothing else,,

in case you try and relate anything into that! In relation to what is

happening in the Labour Party manifesto, the key thing is that you

have to ask yourselves, with the in positions that they are proposing to

put on business, what would the impact of that be? It is easy to

think, this is just about business, business will pay and there will not

be any impact on anybody else. Actually, that's not right. If

business does not think this is a good place to be, in the UK, then

they won't come here, we won't see jobs being created and people will

lose out. They will lose out in higher prices in the shops, in lower

wages and fewer jobs. What we need to do is to make sure that the

United Kingdom is the most attractive place to set up and grow

a business, to provide their jobs and investment that will really

secure people's future.