Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond’s plan to turn the country’s budget deficit into a surplus in the mid-2020s is no longer credible after he relaxed his grip on public spending last year, British lawmakers said on Tuesday. Parliament’s Treasury Committee said Hammond’s long-term fiscal goal of getting the public finances into the black had ceased to be meaningful. “It should be replaced before the next budget with something that accurately reflects government policy and priorities, which clearly do not include running a budget surplus,” the committee said ahead of Hammond’s half-yearly budget ... (full story)