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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

If the hon. Gentleman is going to take a hand-out question, he should pick a better one. The Chancellor does not understand that education is about not only additional money, but reform. [Interruption.] We have matched the additional spending next year, and we have matched the capital spending, which is nothing like the £34 billion figure that the Chancellor has mentioned; according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the figure is more like £1 billion. We want to see education reform, and we now know that it can be delivered only with the support of this side of the House. While we are on the subject of education, why did the Chancellor not tell us more about his youth national community service scheme? For some reason, he did not find time during his one hour at the Dispatch Box to mention the fact that he has just appointed a new chairman of the scheme, so I shall make the announcement for him. The new chairman is a Mr. Rod Aldridge—a well-connected individual. In fact, he is so keen to get on with the job that he resigned from Capita the very next day. Six years ago, the Chancellor embarked on his great experiment of abandoning prudence. He decided to increase public sector spending hugely, while blocking the reforms that were necessary to make sure that the money got to the front line. Six years later, if you want to see the result of what has happened, Mr. Deputy Speaker, listen to the Prime Minister’s own special adviser on public services, who has worked at the heart of No. 10. When he was on ““Panorama”” two weeks ago, he said this:"““We’re pouring money into the health service. We’re pouring money into the education system. But we are not getting the quality of services that we expect. I think we’re in a pretty disastrous situation””." That is the next door neighbours’ verdict on the record of No. 11—which is, of course, the subtext to the whole Budget. This is a battle over who is in charge of Labour’s sinking ship. We have a Prime Minister on the other side of the world who admits that he was wrong to say that he was going, and we have a Chancellor who hardly dares leave the country in case he misses his chance again. So the Chancellor sits there reannouncing old promises on education, taxing more and spending more, painfully aware that so much money has been wasted. We are told that, unlike the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and his cabal are keen on establishing clear dividing lines with their opponents. Well, those dividing lines are emerging. We have a Chancellor who is addicted to taxation, and a growing consensus—which includes the right hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn)—that higher taxes undermine aspiration and damage Britain’s ability to compete. We have a Chancellor whose answer to everything is to spend, and a growing consensus that money alone is not the answer. We have a Chancellor who opposes reform, and an alliance in this House that will vote reform through. We have a Chancellor who describes himself as ““a socialist””, and a country that knows that a return to tax and spend socialism would bring this country to its knees. This Budget should have prepared Britain for the new global economy. Instead, we have a Chancellor who is stuck in the thinking of the past, when the country needs a modern, compassionate Conservative party, changing to meet the challenges of the future.