Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

I do not think it is necessary to refer to a speech made by a junior Treasury Minister on 5 January, because the Chancellor of the Exchequer said exactly the same today. He said that in 2012-13 there would be £57 billion less in the economy than there is now. The point is—it is difficult for me to labour it sufficiently—that that position will be reached by means of a variety of measures. It could be reached through the efficiency savings that have already been mentioned, and, as the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden said, it could even be reached through taxation. What we do not promise is what the Conservatives promise: cuts which will affect public services. I should like now—with your leave, Mr. Deputy Speaker—to return to the subject of the Budget. At the beginning of his statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer pointed out—this has not been quoted by the Conservatives, or, I believe, by the Liberal Democrats—that we have lived through a global recession. We have lived through a repeat of the 1930s. We did not do the same as we did in the 1930s, however. We did not let 12,000 banks go to the wall. We saved them, and put money into them. We introduced quantitative easing, which saved the banks. We did not go from a recession to a depression; we avoided that. We did not even reach the 3 million unemployment figure that was forecast—with some joy, I have to say. We have steadied the economy, as other nation states have done. Of course we need banking reform, but it must take place on an international basis. It is not possible for one country to introduce it without taking the rest of the group of 20 with it. Incidentally, while we are throwing figures around the Chamber, why do we not cite what the Chancellor said about the £8 billion that came back to the Bank of England? Why do we not talk about the great success of the car scrappage deal? Last year, we were arguing about it. I have a copy of the speech that I made last year, and I will say very clearly what I said last year.""In one car dealership in Middlesbrough alone—Jennings of Middlesbrough—there are 470 people who work there, and throughout the north-east. It invests in the latest equipment and it services and maintains our cars and vans. This helps to make our small and medium-sized enterprises viable. Anything that helps such businesses to continue, including the scrappage deal, is welcome. I predict"" —we can be prophets with honour in our own country—""that while it is available, it will have the same impact as the similar schemes in France and Germany, and that the 30 per cent. loss of sales by car dealers will be rectified. We should not overlook the fact that our car dealerships play their part in the local community. They are, for example, investors in local charities. This will be a welcome proposal for them."—[Official Report, 22 April 2009; Vol. 491, c. 290.]" The Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed today that car sales had increased by 30 per cent.