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Theresa May says another general election 'wouldn't be in the national interest'

Matilda Long
·Data and Politics News Editor, Yahoo News UK
Theresa May has insisted yesterday’s budget is not meant to pave the way for an early general election (Getty Images)
Theresa May has insisted yesterday’s budget is not meant to pave the way for an early general election (Getty Images)

Theresa May said today that an early general election would not be in the national interest, insisting that yesterday’s budget was not intended to pave the way for an early vote.

Asked at a press conference in Oslo whether her government was planning to send the nation to the polls, she said: “No. We are not preparing for another general election. That would not be in the national interest.”

Given her insistence that she was not planning an early general election before calling one in 2017, the PM’s assurances on the issue are likely to ring somewhat hollow.

Philip Hammond’s budget yesterday included giveaways amounting to billions of pounds, widely seen as an attempt to woo voters.

Philip Hammond holds up the traditional red dispatch box outside his official residence 11 Downing Street before delivering his annual budget speech .(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Philip Hammond holds up the traditional red dispatch box outside his official residence 11 Downing Street before delivering his annual budget speech .(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

The Chancellor shelved his pledge to eliminate the UK’s budget deficit in favour of giveaways to workers, cuts to business rates, more cash for Universal Credit and increases in public spending.

Mr Hammond also insisted today that the budget was not a stepping stone to another election.

Asked whether this was the case on ITV’s Good Morning Britain he said: “I hope not. What we are preparing for is Britain’s future.

“We’ve now turned a corner and we are able to give Britain a bit of good news.”

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speculated that the government was plotting an election, saying: “The Tories usually do this. If a general election is coming, what they’ll do is they’ll splash out some money and then if they win the election they then start cutting it back again.”

Philip Hammond loosened the purse strings somewhat during yesterday’s budget.

Mr Hammond was able to loosen the purse strings during yesterday’s Budget thanks to better than expected tax revenues.

Rather than using the extra money to balance the books, he pledged much of the cash to public services and tax cuts.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “He’s just simply decided to spend all of that. I think he has abandoned any idea of getting to budget balance by the mid-2020s.”