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Amendment of the law

I am glad to have tempted the hon. Gentleman back to the Dispatch Box. Let me say to him very clearly that his party would take money away that has already been promised and cut the real-terms growth in spending. In contrast to his proposals, we are sticking to our spending plans up to 2010-11 and sticking to the money that we have promised for schools and hospitals. The big difference, although he wants to get away from it, is that he is doing something that is seen to be economically illiterate. He is saying that the time to cut spending is now, in the middle of a recession. Whatever he says, he knows that that is the case. I do not know why he boxed himself into that position.