Chancellor plans budget spending pledges to reassure MPs

Philip Hammond is planning to pepper his budget with a series of spending announcements to reassure Tory backbenchers who are anxious about the impact of universal credit and delivering on the prime minister’s pledge to end austerity.The chancellor is understood to share fears that Theresa May’s promise at the Tory party conference to step up public spending had been interpreted too literally, putting pressure on the Treasury to announce giveaways later this month.Senior Treasury off