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Policy for Growth

I thank all who participated in this debate. It is a sign of the success of the Backbench Business Committee's choice of topic that I do not have enough time to respond in detail to colleagues as I would like, having sat here patiently listening to some good contributions. I hope that the Minister recognises that my hon. Friends and I, as well as Opposition Members, are extremely worried about the position on bank credit. The hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves), my hon. Friends the Members for Hove (Mike Weatherley) and for Northampton South (Mr Binley), the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), the hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) and I made a number of points. Although I am grateful for the measures that the Minister sketched for an economy of a few billion pounds, we are talking about a £1.5 trillion economy. A few billions will not make a big difference, and I urge him and his hon. Friends in the Treasury to look again at why the Bank of England is depressing the accelerator—printing money and telling people that the water is lovely—and the banking regulator is depressing the brake and saying that money cannot be lent to industries that need it, or for the big projects that are much needed throughout the country. A Labour Member became excited when he thought he heard me say that we want a big public works programme paid for by the public sector. I clearly said that we need a big public works programme—paid for wholly or mainly by the private sector. That is what we need to release banking credit for longer-term projects. We need the power stations, the transport links and the broadband. Those are the things that could bring the House together. This has been a well-tempered debate, and hon. Members have expressed their fears and worries for their constituencies, but all have come together to say, ““Yes, growth is what we need; bring on the growth; all we love is growth, and we must do more to achieve it.”” The Government must control their deficit, but they must also do rather more on infrastructure, regulation, taxation and a number of issues to get that growth assured faster. They must persevere throughout the whole four years that remain of this Parliament and the Government's budget strategy, so that we get those jobs and the big increases in tax revenue that are much needed to deliver their plans. A large number of Labour Members—too many to read out in the few seconds remaining—were very concerned that public spending cuts would have a depressing effect on the economy. Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 9(3)).