UK finance minister Hammond doing the rounds on BBC and ITV this morning

  • UK will deal with EU bills in the proper way
  • no Brexit deal with EU is better than a bad deal
  • Areported £60bn Brexit bill was "a piece of negotiating strategy" from Brussels but that the UK "abides by its international obligations"
  • doesn't exclude some contributions to EU budget but not large
  • UK economic performance gives May a strong hand
  • UK/EU moving closer together as talks near
  • EU mood music on Brexit has changed much since January, increasingly pragmatic approach
  • the UK will "fight back" and not "slink off like a wounded animal" if a Brexit deal cannot be reached

Regarding this Wednesday's Budget speech he says:

  • There will be no "spending sprees"
  • any surplus cash would be used to ensure the UK had enough "gas in the tank" for the coming years.

More from Beeb on the Budget here

Nothing really new or of note from Hammond but markets will still watch Wednesday's speech with more than the usual interest.