Theresa May refuses to say she won’t sack Philip Hammond after the election – but says they’ve worked together for ‘many years’
The PM said they have worked together for 'longer than we would care to identify'
THERESA MAY has refused to say whether Philip Hammond will keep his job as Chancellor after the election.
At a joint-press conference today in East London, the pair were quizzed on whether there were disagreements between the two of them.
The Prime Minister tried to calm reports of a split between them - but refused to go so far as to say he would definitely be keeping his job after June 8.
She told reporters today she was "happy to" give an endorsement of her Chancellor.
And she went on: "As Philip says, we have worked together over the years... for many years… longer than we would care to identify. That’s an age related comment, nothing else!"
But when she was asked directly about his job, she merely said: "We're focused on June 8th".
Mr Hammond said that any reports that the two weren't getting on were just "media tittle tattle".
He said: "She’s got an extremely strong team around her. I work very closely with her team… we do work very well together."
After this year's budget there were reports of a furious falling out between May and Hammond's teams over who was to blame for the National Insurance u-turn.
This morning Mr Hammond didn't deny claims he had once sworn at one of Mrs May's aides, Nick Timothy.
"I wasn't referring to any particular conversation, but I do occasionally swear," he said.
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In the joint press conference in Canary Wharf this morning, the PM and the Chancellor hit out at the Labour party's shambolic manifesto launch yesterday.
They claimed there was a £58 billion black hole in Labour's plans for Britain.
"People will be paying the price for Labour," Mrs May said. "Higher wages, higher taxes, an economy that will be in chaos."
And she slammed Labour's manifesto as a "fantasy wish list of easy promises, paid for with imaginary money".
Yesterday Jeremy Corbyn unveiled his hard-left manifesto packed with £48 billion of new spending.
Experts said his sums didn't add up - and many of his own shadow cabinet didn't even show up to the launch.
He vowed to fund it all with the largest tax hike on businesses and the well-off since World War Two.
Mr Corbyn also pledged to enforce the biggest state power grab since the 1970s with plans to renationalise water, energy, the railways and Royal Mail.
Business leaders warned the tax and spend bombshell would spark an exodus of talent and wealth.
Mr Hammond said yesterday confirmed what was already expected from Labour - that they "do not have a credible plan for our economy" and that they "cannot be trusted with our country's finances".
He labelled the launch as the latest in a "catalogue of chaos" and his "nonsensical plans" were riddled with holes.
"The stakes at this election could not be higher," he added. "A vote for any other party is simply too big a risk to take."