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Finance Bill

No, I do not; funnily enough, I do not think that that would be a useful way to spend money in the current circumstances—and nor, frankly, do I think it would be remotely fair. We have set out a series of measures that help the economy now. The Opposition claim that we cannot afford to implement them, but the truth is we cannot afford not to. The best and fastest way to bring borrowing back down is to support the economy and promote a return to growth. That is why every one of our major competitors is also increasing borrowing to support their economy, even though most of them have significantly higher levels of debt than us. They agree with us that it is right to support the economy in the short run because it will cost us more if we do not.