Fiscal Responsibility Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes a slightly different point—he is talking about the timing. As there is a reasonable consensus in the Committee, including all but one or two Labour Members, that we would like the deficit to be lower than it is at the moment, the debate ends up being about timing, rather than whether we aspire to cut the deficit. There is a range of views on timing. For what it is worth, the Liberal Democrats' view is that it should not be political—it should not take account of the requirements of a general election campaign in the next few months. We need to bear in mind a range of economic factors, including Britain's credit worthiness and unemployment, before we can make meaningful decisions about the appropriate speed with which to reduce the deficit. On that basis alone, we are uncomfortable with, and opposed to, this legislation, leaving aside the Alice in Wonderland nature of the deliberations.