article: He told the Conservative conference the deficit was still too large and would need to be tackled "in due course". But he said the Brexit vote may cause "turbulence" and business confidence would be on a "bit of a rollercoaster". He said that it was "common sense" to invest to support growth and jobs. In his conference speech, Mr Hammond said his predecessor's deficit reduction policies "were the right ones for that time" but that times had changed since the vote to leave the EU, which he said had caused uncertainty for business. "When times change, we must change with them," he said. "So we will no longer target a surplus at the end of this Parliament. But make no mistake the task of fiscal consolidation must continue. "The British people elected us on a promise to restore fiscal discipline. And that is exactly what we are going to do. But we will do it in a pragmatic way that reflects the new circumstances we face." His speech came against a background of the pound falling to its lowest level against the dollar since early July, after the timetable for starting Brexit negotiations were set out on Sunday. Addressing the party faithful he said that as part of a new "flexible and pragmatic" plan, the details of which will be fleshed out in next month's Autumn Statement, there would be greater scope for investment to boost the economy, including extra borrowing of £2bn to speed up the construction of new homes. Mr Hammond said the government would use "all the tools at its disposal" to increase the amount of new housing stock "because making housing more affordable will be a vital part of building a country that works for everyone". Analysis by Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor Out with the deficit hawks - in with the conservative pragmatists. That might not, well, quite catch on. But there is certainly a sense of down with the old regime at the Tory conference today. Philip Hammond isn't just a totally different character to the former occupant of the job, George Osborne, but he is intent on junking a fair bit of Mr Osborne's approach too. His targets for getting rid of the deficit are being ditched. Let's face it, George Osborne missed them time and again in any case, but it is politically a big shift for Mr Hammond and Mrs May to tear up the previous borrowing rules, when balancing the books was the central mission of the government they were all part of. Instead, there will be a new "framework" but sources close to Mr Hammond believe that setting specific targets is a fool's errand. But given that Mr Osborne's target was extremely unlikely to be met, the political change is perhaps bigger than what it means in practice. Asked whether the public investment plan and the refusal to set out a timetable for eliminating the deficit marked the end of the "age of austerity", Mr Hammond told the BBC a "credible plan" was still required to get the public finances into
summary: Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he will prioritise spending on new homes and transport rather than following his predecessor George Osborne's aim to balance the books by 2020.