UK – The pre-Brexit budget and the implications on Brexit talks

UK Chancellor Philip Hammond will use his annual budget to try to bolster support for the prime minister’s Brexit plan, a strategy that risks antagonizing Tory hard-liners as Brexit negotiations enter their final stages.

When Hammond presents his budget in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, he will emphasize that his financial plan rests on securing a deal with Brussels ahead of the U.K.’s exit from the European Union in March 2019. Without a deal, his budget — and the public spending promises that go with it — will be replaced by an emergency rethink.

This year’s budget also represents a moment of danger for the government to navigate safely if Brexit talks are to get back on track. May’s Northern Irish backers, the Democratic Unionist Party, have threatened to torpedo the budget if they remain dissatisfied with the government’s Brexit negotiating stance on the Irish border, a move that at best would severely dent the prime minister’s authority and at worst topple her altogether.

Many are watching closely for evidence May can clear this week’s budget and the ensuing vote in parliament relatively unscathed so that Brexit talks can resume.

Politico presents what one should expect from the Budget