Image source, PA

In a sign that the government is planning to reset its fiscal policy, the new Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, is to unveil a £5bn house-building stimulus package later today.

In his speech to the Conservative Party conference he will announce plans to spend £2bn and use surplus public land to encourage new developers. 

The government will also spend a further £3bn on loans for home builders and long term infrastructure projects.

The aim is to appeal to those who have been shut out of the housing market by years of rising prices and tough lending conditions.

EU politicians appear unimpressed by Theresa May's announcement that she will trigger formal Brexit talks "by the end of March", Katya Adler reports.

CBI chief Carolyn Fairbairn has been on the Today Programme talking about Brexit negotiations, after the Prime Minister announced they would start by the end of March 2017.

BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed tweets...

The pound keeps falling this morning after Prime Minister Theresa May's speech, in which she confirmed she would trigger Brexit negotiations by the end of March 2017.

Sterling has dropped below $1.29 and €1.15 and is back around the lowest levels it's hit since the Brexit vote. 

It has fallen to about $1.2870 - the first time since mid-August it's been that low. Against the euro it's at €1.1480. 

The pound has fallen more than 12% against the dollar since the referendum to levels last seen in 1985.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Listening to Philip Hammond's interview, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says his Treasury policy shift means it's "down with the deficit hawks" in favour of the chancellor's "Conservative pragmatism". 

This means a "junking" of George Osborne's target for eliminating the deficit - but the new chancellor will not set a new date for balancing the books.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Philip Hammond rejects suggestions that investment in builidng new homes, for example, will necessarily require more builders from overseas.

Using a phrase from the Leave campaign, the former Remain supporter says the UK will be able to "take back control" of immigration policy.

"The key word is control", he says, and it will be "for us to decide" if people can come into the UK to work.

The chancellor adds that he hopes that there will be an agreement to let EU citizens already resident in the UK to stay.    

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Philip Hammond will not say whether the government will be seeking continuing membership of the single market once the UK leaves the EU.

He tells Today ministers will be "seeking the greatest degree of access for British goods and services" - and claims this is possible "without the imposition of tariffs, without the imposition of quotas".

He adds that forecasting suggests that "leaving the European Union will have a negative effect on economic growth" but "this will be spread over a period of 15 years".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Early economic indicators have not highlighted a significant impact of the Brexit vote, says the chancellor, but he adds: "Anecdotally, we hear of businesses postponing investment decisions."

Philip Hammond makes the case for what he calls "targeted, high-value investment in our economic infrastructure" to protect jobs and economic growth.

Referring to a former Labour shadow chancellor, Today presenter Nick Robinson suggests that Mr Hammond is sounding "more Balls than Osborne".

"I hope I'm sounding like a Conservative pragmatist," the chancellor says. Labour, by contrast, has proposed some "ludicrous" levels of spending, he claims.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme ahead of his speech, Philip Hammond says: "We have to get our public finances in order.

"But our circumstances have changed."

The Brexit vote and a slowing in the world economy means there is a need to protect the UK economy, he argues.

Eventually, however, he says: "We will balance that budget."

Image source, AFP/GETTY

Welcome to our rolling updates on the Conservative conference in Birmingham. 

Chancellor Philip Hammond is to tell his party he will manage the public finances in a different way to his predecessor, George Osborne.

In a speech later, Mr Hammond will promise "a new plan for the new circumstances Britain faces" after the Brexit vote.

He will say his "pragmatic" approach allows greater scope for investment to boost the economy. This will include extra borrowing of £2bn to speed up housing construction.

Read more.