Child Poverty Bill

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. I shall try to answer him as straightforwardly as I can. I personally do not support putting child poverty targets on a statutory footing when we have not assessed all deprivation and when we have not considered the plight of the disabled, the elderly poor or any number of other groups. We have not considered the other priorities—we could be at war in eight years' time. All Governments want the best outcomes for the most people and have a particular interest—they certainly should—in looking after the most vulnerable and the weakest in our society. Should we—the hon. Gentleman will have to forgive me, as I know that he is not a cynical Member of this place—prioritise this issue for cynical electoral reasons so that the Government can capture a headline and distract from their failures?