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The Economy

The hon. Gentleman and I have had some altercations about the level of debt over the past few months. On 7 October last year, I disputed the figures given by the Chief Secretary when she said that debt was 37.3 per cent. of GDP. By the pre-Budget report the figure had risen to 43 per cent., according to Government figures. I believe that the hon. Gentleman described what I was saying at the time as apocalyptic nonsense, but does he not accept that the Office for National Statistics itself states in its current estimates that the amount of debt is a minimum of £2.2 trillion, which represents 150 per cent. of GDP? Can he not accept that from the ONS?