Pre-Budget Report

I predicted the last bit of that intervention, and I am happy to agree with the first bit: I am extremely kind. It is the bit in the middle that we have to talk about. If I really thought that it was done and dusted and that the UK's triple A credit rating was a lost cause, I probably would not be applying for the job I am applying for. I also hope, however, that the right hon. Gentleman similarly agrees that there is no scope at all for complacency about the triple A credit rating. That credit rating has not even been in question for decades, yet it is now right on the radar screen; it is being talked about in analysts' notes, and we need to be extremely careful. I understand that the right hon. Gentleman is under great pressure from the Prime Minister to create political dividing lines and to focus on the very short term, but he and his boss need to be extremely careful about how they present themselves to the people who decide these things, who ultimately will be the arbiters of our fate.