in fact the longest serving conservative defence secretary ever, ben wallace, who stepped down from his job in the summer citing the cost of what he said was putting work and country ahead of my family. a member of the government in some form ever since the conservatives came to power in 2010, he can now reflect on what he s learned about politics and about defence as he prepares for a life outside westminster. ben wallace, welcome to political thinking. thank you. we are speaking a few hours after the chancellor unveiled what he called his largest ever tax cut for workers. if you were running at the next election, would you be preparing for a spring election? no. i would probably be waiting for september. i think it is a good autumn statement. jeremy has gone on the right place around national insurance, effectively rewarding effort, work and trying people who we need to generate wealth and pay tax receipts so we can have more to spend and grow the economy. i think he has do