---

Finance Bill

It is not a binary decision like that. The hon. Gentleman is clever enough—[Interruption.] I am sorry, but I will not disrespect him by claiming that he truly believes that. Had the Government brought forward

a Budget that would have grown the economy, as the Conservatives would have done, the Government would have more money. Had Labour grasped the nettle of welfare reform, as we did when we were in office, and we had very clear plans in our manifesto for a saving of £12 billion a year, the Government would not have to go around caning companies, beating up on pensioners and so on as an alternative. There are better ways of doing things, and we had a much better way.