Derivatives Summit: UK shadow minister urges policy reforms

In his keynote address at the Risk Derivatives Summit held in London on June 24, Philip Hammond, Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, and shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the time has come for a major rethink on monetary policy.

Hammond believes the policies adopted by the Labour government since 1997 have contributed to rocketing house prices and unsustainable levels of public and private debt.

“Once inflation targeting was institutionalised by the Bank of England Act, everything else in the economy – the exchange rate, current account, debt levels and the structure of the economy itself – were left to find their own level,” remarked Hammond. “Because our inflation was low, anyone who raised concerns about imbalances