Pre-Budget Report

My hon. Friend has made a good point, although it is a slightly different point from the one that the Chief Secretary was making to me. Issues relating to definition of the net debt are indeed part of what is undermining the United Kingdom's credibility in international markets. Divided Governments are weak Governments. In the run-up to the pre-Budget report we saw acrimony and division within this Government, and since the PBR some may have noticed a degree of continuity in that trend. We have observed the Schools Secretary and the Chancellor playing cat and mouse with each other in public over the education budget, the Work and Pensions Secretary accusing the Chancellor of "astonishing" mistakes—I wonder where she got that idea from—the Health Secretary insisting that his budget would be protected, the Transport Secretary implying that he would resign if the railway capital spending was cut; and, all the time, the Chancellor's options being narrowed by the manoeuvring of the Prime Minister and his allies—or perhaps I should say "ally"—intent on creating political dividing lines rather than solving the underlying fiscal problem. Yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister, in what was billed as a speech reasserting his support for the Prime Minister, instead comprehensively undermined the Prime Minister's economic strategy, making it clear that he, at least, understands that economic recovery cannot be built on more borrowing and more public spending—hence his decision to let it be known that he was "incandescent" about the content of the pre-Budget report. Following those internal semi-public debates within the Government may be great fun for Opposition politicians and journalists in the Westminster village as they seek to identify the winners and losers of each round, but the real losers are the people of Britain and the only winners are the hedge funds, which are quick to spot weakness and indecision and which are now openly speculating against our currency and our sovereign debt.