The Economy

I will not, because I have gone on too long and there are other important speeches to be made today. I was thinking about what other doctors the Chancellor resembled, and I concluded that he resembled Voltaire's giant. I will take an intervention from anybody on the Government Front Bench who knows who Voltaire's giant doctor was—Voltaire's great doctor, Dr Pangloss. It does not matter what the evidence says, it simply strengthens Dr Pangloss's opinion that his philosophy must be right. Britain's rock-bottom gilts? A sign of success, not a damning verdict from the markets on the prospects for growth. Rising unemployment? Not a bad thing, just creating more space for the private sector-led recovery when it finally arrives. The worse things get in the rest of the world the better for Britain, because we are the only safe haven of prosperity. In the Chancellor's Panglossian world, everything is working out just fine, but in the real world, with the world economy darkening, and with the UK now forecast to endure stagnant growth and rising unemployment this year, next year and the year after, this Panglossian Chancellor is making a catastrophic error of judgment, refusing to learn the lessons of history, refusing even to understand the lessons of economics, and refusing to shift to a more balanced plan. He got it wrong 18 months ago; he is getting it so badly wrong today. He is out of his depth and out of touch. Is it not time he changed course before it is too late?