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Economic Recovery

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention because it shows the Labour party’s two desperate alibis. When Labour Members get desperate, they say, "Well, you know, it was even worse when there was a Conservative Government," which is a bit like saying to the Liberals, "Things were desperate when Campbell-Bannerman was Prime Minister." That approach just does not wash after 12 years in government. The second alibi is, "If we hadn’t intervened, it would’ve been even worse." The hon. Gentleman has to acknowledge that, as I will demonstrate in a second, the deficit—the black hole that the Government have got us into—is monumental. However, let me first conclude my point about unemployment. The change in the unemployment rate has hit everyone. A comparison of the period from May to July in 2009 with the same period a year earlier gives an indication of just how desperate the increase in unemployment in this country has become. In the south-west of England, the seasonally adjusted increase in unemployment from the same period in the previous year was 72 per cent. In the west midlands the figure was 71 per cent., and even in the south-east it was 36 per cent. All that leads us to the fact that the Government have got our public finances into a complete mess. The Library reports that the Treasury forecasts that borrowing will be £175 billion in 2009-10, which is 12.4 per cent. of gross domestic product. Debt is forecast to rise to £1.4 trillion by 2013-14, which is 76.2 per cent. of GDP, excluding the impact of measures to support the banks. Those are truly horrifying statistics and they show why we can have no recovery until we have some fiscal responsibility. That is why my hon. Friend the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer is right to make it clear that the Government have borrowed too much and that £1 in every £4 that the state spends now goes straight on the national debt. More of our taxes go on paying the interest on that debt than go on educating our children or ensuring that our armed forces are properly equipped. It is tragic to see the training of the Territorial Army being cut for the next six months, as many of its young men and women are now serving on the front line. I wonder just how many days’ debt interest would be needed to ensure that that commitment could otherwise be met—it would probably be only one or two. There is no recovery for the Government to secure. They really need to address how to get the public finances back into kilter and where to make the savings in public spending to ensure that that happens. This is clearly an issue that Ministers are unwilling to address. The shadow Chancellor addressed it in Manchester, but the Government are unwilling to do so. They are simply hoping that they can get from now to the first Thursday in May next year without addressing it, and hoping upon hope that if they keep on talking about some mythical recovery, the electors will be lulled into thinking that life can go on just as it is now. The reality is that responsible, serious measures will have to be taken by whoever is elected to Government at the next general election, and that only we are showing the responsibility of measuring up to that task.