Fiscal Responsibility Bill

I am grateful for that intervention, which repeated a point made on Second Reading by the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Frank Dobson). Let me go through this carefully in a way that the Government may find helpful. At the moment, we are spending a lot more than we are receiving in tax receipts. I assume that the hon. Lady does not believe that we should stop the borrowing, but we cannot simply confiscate people's assets; we have to persuade them that if they are going to lend to us, they will get their money back. If we do not have credible fiscal policies, the markets—I know that the hon. Lady is not a fan of the markets—will either not be prepared to lend to us or will do so only at a higher rate because of the perceived risk. It is one of the great ironies of those on the left that they are so dismissive of international finance yet pursue policies that make this country so dependent on such finance to fund their very high levels of public spending. So there is an issue about fiscal responsibility. My point is that the Bill does not persuade the markets; if it does not do so, what is the point of it? Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps if we had a consultation, as new clause 1 suggests, some people might come along and say, "This is a jolly good idea; we are much happier to lend to the British Government because they have a Fiscal Responsibility Bill." I am somewhat sceptical about that happening, but perhaps it would.