Finance Bill

My Lords, I am surprised that the Minister is not answering the question. I have here the exact quote from today’s Financial Times in an article written by Chris Giles, the economics editor. It is not written by a reporter and on a page at the back of the newspaper. It is on the front page. The opening paragraph states: "““Treasury officials are working … on plans to reform Gordon Brown’s fiscal rules on spending and debt with a new framework that would … allow for increased borrowing””." The Minister has a chance today to deny the story, and if he refuses to deny it, we must accept it as an admission. The Minister is tacitly admitting it; this is not speculation.