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The Economy

I get the point. The scheme would be of the same nature as the guarantees we offer for interbank lending, and would be scored in the same way. Of course there would be a contingent liability, but it would not add to public borrowing. The scheme would be administered by the banks, because they have the commercial judgment—[Interruption.] I do not suggest that the Government should engage directly in making loans to small and medium businesses, or even large ones. The banks can do that with the support of the Government and the guarantees provided by the Government—[Interruption.] I do not know why Labour Members are so surprised. This is the scheme that the Government are supposed to be setting up, but it has not actually happened yet. Of course, like with a good commercial loan, there would be collateral, but the point is that businesses cannot get commercial loans and there is no credit flowing in the economy, because of the credit crunch. The Government cannot engage in any of the debates about making good the mistakes of the past or learning the lessons about what went wrong because they are led by a man who thinks that no mistakes at all were made. He thinks that there were no mistakes in the system of regulation, in the wanton destruction of savings and pensions, or in allowing an economy to be built on debt.