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Amendment of the law

We have had an interesting, at times thoughtful, sometimes amusing and sometimes vitriolic debate this afternoon. I shall first mention a few of the contributions that we have heard. My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts), who welcomed the support in the Budget, particularly to prepare for the upturn, gave many examples of companies in his constituency that are preparing for just that. He also rightly pointed out our determination to lead in environmental technology. The hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Angela Browning), who always makes thoughtful speeches, particularly about retired people, talked about loan sharks and banks in the same breath. We all share her desire to see the standing of financial services and UK banks return from its present point to somewhere reasonable. She also wanted cuts in taxes on investment income, which is a feature of what we hear from the Opposition. They scaremonger about the size of the debts that face us after what is a global shock and then complain about anything that we do in terms of fiscal consolidation to try to raise money and restore the sustainability of the public finances. They always make the basic argument that the deficit is too large and then complain when we try to raise money to shift it. My hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt) again demonstrated her commitment to and experience in housing, and she particularly welcomed the fund that will allow local authorities to build. She emphasised the importance of housing—we share that view—and particularly wished to ensure that we deal with some of the existing shortages. The Budget contains modest but important measures in that regard, despite the problems that we are experiencing in the public finances. The hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Mr. Fallon) made his usual robust speech. We have shared many years of experience serving on the Treasury Committee and I continue always to enjoy his contributions. He talked about the structural problem of debt, but when we have had a shock of the sort that we have seen in the global financial system, which, without being predicted—my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) mentioned that point in her extremely good, thoughtful and interesting presentation—shifts our tax receipts in such an unprecedented way, it is not surprising that a structural deficit occurs. We have to think very carefully about how to restore some of that tax funding, and I believe that the approach that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor took in his Budget will begin to do that. The hon. Gentleman, in line with a lot of his party, said that the public sector was too big and has to be cut, but he did not explain quite how he would like to see it cut. I thought that my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North made much more interesting comments on the efficiencies that can be driven through the public sector—we have made a beginning on that with the operational efficiency programme—and how collaborative procurement, shared services and a different way of delivering public services are beginning to give us the chance to transform how our services are used. She described this as a "flatter" public service, more driven by its users than providers, and she offered us some important and interesting insights into what the future will be if we can do that in an appropriate way, while protecting front-line services. That is the important difference between the two sides, it seems to me. The question is whether we should slash and burn in the middle of a recession, or take a careful and focused look at how we can deliver real service efficiencies while protecting those on the front line. The hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price) at least admitted that the Government have put in effect policies that might have—I am quoting him—averted a recession—