What was illuminating about last week's Conservative Party conference was the gulf between ministers, falling over themselves to tickle the tummies of their pro-Brexit party delegates with little England speeches, and the dry, thoughtful Chancellor, Philip Hammond.

It was Hammond who had to steer a path between toeing his party line that Brexit is the gateway to paradise while saying it also meant ‘fiscal uncertainty.' It was Hammond who laid out the semblance of a regional economic strategy and scotched rumours that devolution and the Northern Powerhouse were yesteryear. It was Hammond again on his later visit to New York who had to smooth talk US bankers following Theresa May's conference speech in which she appeared to place controlling immigration above any concern about leaving the EU single market. He is likely to be a busy man over the next year while his colleagues tie themselves into knots over Brexit negotiations.