Philip Hammond
British politician (born 1955)
- The British public has a strong sense that the situation of the civilian population in Gaza is intolerable and must be addressed — and we agree with them.
- But what has struck me most looking at my own constituency in-box as well as the thousands of emails that I’m receiving from the general public here is that it isn’t just the Muslim community that’s reacting to this. It’s a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television screens coming out of Gaza.
- We understand that Israel has concerns, we understand that Hamas has concerns. We are not saying we’re not interested in those.
- I hope history will judge us to have tackled the problem effectively and delivered a sustainable future for Britain's public services.
- We have to demonstrate to the public that our commitment is protecting public services in the face of a spending contraction which is inevitable.
- Nobody is suggesting that the NHS doesn't have to reform, nobody is suggesting that it doesn't have to become more efficient, that productivity growth doesn't have to become positive … The only difference is that in health, because of the demographic pressure, the savings will all – and more – have to be reinvested in delivering more healthcare.