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Finance Bill

The right hon. Gentleman began, quite rightly, by paying tribute to the Office for Budget Responsibility and the work that it has done. Does he accept that the OBR forecasts make it clear that over the period of the Budget, growth will rise and unemployment will fall? That confirms—if we are trading quotes—the view of the secretary-general of the OECD, who has said that the Budget""provides the necessary degree of fiscal consolidation over the coming years to restore public finances to a sustainable path, while… supporting the recovery."" That is what the Budget does, and the right hon. Gentleman should be welcoming it.