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AMENDMENT OF THE LAW

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point, but longer-term mortgages relate to the stabilisation of people’s personal finances, not the heart of the inflationary issue. Current inflation is not being driven by wage demands, although they may come, but by commodity prices and the world economic situation. With respect to the hon. Gentleman’s point, long-term mortgages are a response to, but not a solution to, those overall inflationary factors. I say to the Treasury that the time is right to have a discussion and analysis of the current nature of inflation because our response is still geared to previous inflationary cycles in the economy.