Fiscal Responsibility Bill

In that case, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his consistency. However I would be surprised if other Conservative Members did not vote for it. I am puzzled by the reasons for using legislation in this way, so I have considered what value it might have. I can see some value in at least facilitating an orderly debate on a subject, which is something that a Bill will achieve. We are at least discussing the goal of reducing our debts, the possible targets that might be set and the time frame in which that goal might be achieved. That is the substance of clause 1, which we are now discussing. That is worth while, and whatever emerges from this process—although I would be surprised if the Bill were to make it to the statute book before the election—might have garnered some value from the process itself, as opposed to the eventual outcome. The second element is the discussion of the framework for reporting on this important subject to Parliament and thus to the public at large; that comes up in a later clause. Discussion of how best that might be done has some value too, because I suspect that there is a degree of consensus that how we do it now is not perfect. I shall not dwell on some of the flaws in the Bill, one or two of which have been touched on already. There is no common view of the data set on which we base our understanding, and it is useful to have the debate on that issue, although I do not agree with some of the views that have been expressed, most notably by the hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Newmark), who is not in his place today. His sweeping view of the public sector borrowing figures is not one that I share.