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Pre-Budget Report

As the Prime Minister said to the hon. Gentleman earlier, we largely agree with what he is saying, but his problem is that his Front Benchers do not agree with it. As to bank lending, the hon. Gentleman is quite right. A combination of low interest rates and the measures I announced on Monday to help the economy must be accompanied by two further actions. First, we need to do everything we can to get bank lending resumed, particularly to the small business sector, which is crucial. Secondly, the other thing that will help, and this is something that the Conservative party simply cannot accept, is that if other countries across the world stimulate their economies, there will be a far better chance of mitigating some of the worst effects of the slowdown so that our economies can start to grow far more quickly than they otherwise would.