Hammond pulls out of Mansion House speech, citing Grenfell Tower tragedy

Chancellor Philip Hammond has pulled out of giving his annual Mansion House speech in the City of London on Thursday evening, after the Grenfell Tower fire.

Hammond tweeted: "In view of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, I have withdrawn from giving the Mansion House speech tonight. My thoughts are with local community."

The residential tower in Notting Hill, west London became engulfed in flames late on Tuesday night, with firefighters tackling the fire for more than 24 hours afterwards.

On Thursday morning, emergency services said they did not expect to find any further survivors, with 17 confirmed dead so far.

The Mansion House speech was expected to see the Chancellor lay out some of his economic plans and push for a new approach in Britain's exit talks with the European Union.

Snippets of the speech were leaked that revealed that the Treasury is working with the European Investment Bank to maintain funding for infrastructure projects while the UK remains inside the economic bloc and bring forward a domestic investment programme.