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Finance Bill

My hon. Friend is right. The fact is that the Conservatives want to cut spending right now in the middle of recession—hitting apprenticeships, transport and education. This is the Conservative party finally ditching compassion and returning to its ideological roots. This week, the Conservative leader has admitted Margaret Thatcher is his great inspiration in rolling back the state. The Conservatives have been watching too much "Ashes to Ashes". This is '80s revivalism gone rampant. Spandau Ballet are back together, Depeche Mode are back in the charts and they are pinning their hopes on Boy George. All we need now is for the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) to don the stripy legwarmers. If they honestly think that a return to Thatcherism is best for Britain's future, they are living in cuckoo land. We remember Thatcherism. We remember the devastation it caused to our communities, the generations of young people abandoned to long-term unemployment, the soaring child poverty, the public services neglected and the families scarred. We will not return to the politics and policies of the '80s. We have presented a Finance Bill that supports the economy and brings borrowing back down when the economy is growing. The Opposition want tax cuts for the very richest, spending cuts on the very poorest, cuts in the middle of recession, the rolling back of the state and businesses and families left to sink or swim. The measures that we are taking will support 500,000 jobs across Britain. The measures that they support would betray jobs across Britain. The measures in this Finance Bill will help to support our economy and Britain's future, and I commend it to the House.