---

Fiscal Responsibility Bill

I am not going to give way because if I do, I will not get to the end of my speech. The International Monetary Fund has set out that the strengthening of medium-term frameworks, including through fiscal responsibility laws, should help to support the fiscal adjustment that will be necessary in most economies following the financial crisis. The Bill is therefore a crucial part of our fiscal strategy, binding the Government to deliver on the tough decisions we are taking to more than halve the deficit over four years and to get debt falling. The Bill builds on, and significantly enhances, the existing legislative underpinnings of the fiscal framework. It requires the Government to set out at all times a legislative fiscal plan for delivering sound public finances. That must be approved by Parliament before it becomes law, and the Bill places a binding duty on the Government to meet the plan.