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Finance Bill

No, I have already given way to the hon. Gentleman several times as well. Shall we all move on? [Hon. Members: "Yes!"] Okay. The Finance Bill is the postscript to Labour's 12 years of missed opportunity. For me, the conclusion is that there will be a legacy long after Labour has left office. People expect the general election to be next year, but they will be paying back this debt for years afterwards. The Labour party will be greatly damaged as a result. The proposals in the Bill do not address the scale of the debt, the scale of the income disparities in our society or the disincentives for people on low and middle incomes to work and be rewarded for their work. The Labour Government have presided over a disastrous unbalancing of the budget, and the legacy will be deep cuts for those whom they purport to represent. At the moment, people say to me, "It's very difficult in the private sector, but the public sector is insulated from the full consequences of this recession." I am afraid that, given another 18 months to two years, the private sector might well be seeing the benefits of the economy returning to growth—albeit at lower figures than the Government estimate—but there will have to be deep cuts in the public sector to make the books balance. That will be the Labour Government's legacy for many years after they have left office. The consequence will be that progressive politics in this country will come to an end unless my party can seize the mantle and resurrect the voice of progressive politics that was brought into disrepute by a Labour Government who ultimately ran out of money.