Pre-Budget Report

I am not giving way at the moment. The Government should establish a new state institution that will directly underwrite lending from the banks to British businesses. They should do so for a commercial insurance fee, passed on by the banks, that would fully protect the taxpayer. Businesses want credit and credit insurance. They are prepared to pay a fair price for it, and the problem at the moment is that they cannot get any credit or insurance. That would not increase Government borrowing. Instead, it would be more like the secured guarantees for a fee that the Bank of England has already put in place for inter-bank lending, which we supported. The idea is supported by all the major business organisations. That is the kind of radical policy action that we urge the Government to undertake—not fiddling around with temporary VAT changes, but getting to the heart of the credit crunch and solving Britain's credit problems. That is what would help get the British economy back on track and stop the terrible rise in unemployment now taking place, again, under a Labour Government. The Government did not want this debate because they did not want to face the truth. They mistook a housing bubble for stability, they went on a spending spree and called it prudence and they boasted over and over again that they had abolished boom and bust. As a result, they neither saw the boom, nor prepared for the bust. Now, their emergency Budget is unravelling, their secret tax bombshell is revealed and their scorched earth policy is leading this country's economy to ruin. They have run out of money, and the sooner that they are run out of office, the better.