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Pre-Budget Report

The hon. Gentleman more than makes up for it by being too voluble at Prime Minister's Question Time. The growth forecasts that the Chancellor has produced are more optimistic than the Bank of England's, more optimistic than the IMF's and more optimistic than the OECD forecasts that were published yesterday. The OECD said:"““The downturn is expected to be severe in economies most vulnerable to the financial crisis or to sharp house price falls. These include Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg…Turkey and the UK.””" That is not exactly great company for a country that used to the envy of Europe. If the OECD's growth forecasts are right, that will automatically add £10 billion to the Government's borrowing forecast in 2010 alone.