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Financial Forecasts
19. Sir Michael Spicer (West Worcestershire) (Con): When he will publish revised forecasts for the public finances. [151561]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown): An updated assessment of public finance projections will be available as usual in the forthcoming Budget on 17 March.
Sir Michael Spicer: May I repeat the question that I asked the Prime Minister yesterday, to which I got a hopeless non-answer? Why are the balance of payments deficits and fiscal deficits now totally out of control?
Mr. Brown: The current account deficit in 2002 stood at 1.8 per cent. of GDP, well below past peaks. In 1989, under the hon. Gentleman's Government, the current
account deficit reached more than 5 per cent. of GDP. As far as the public finances are concerned—the second deficit—he may know that the deficit in America is between 5 and 6 per cent., in Japan it is 7 per cent., in Germany and France it is 4 per cent. or more, and in Britain it is 3.2 per cent. I ask him to recall that the deficit in the early 1990s under the Conservative Government was not 3.2 per cent.; it was more than 8 per cent.
Roger Casale (Wimbledon) (Lab): Is it not the case that while many countries continue to suffer from the global recession—France and Germany cannot even stay within the European Union stability pact—this country is investing more in public services against a background of economic growth? We have our public finances under control, and recent reports by the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank demonstrate that the British economy and public finances stand up well to any international comparison, despite the attempts by Conservative Members to talk down not only the British economy but the achievements of this Government.
Mr. Brown: We meet our fiscal rules, which would never have happened under the previous Government, and we will not engage in public spending cuts. If the shadow Chancellor persists in saying that he will announce public spending cuts because people say that our spending is horrifically too much, I know what the people of this country will say to him.
Business of the House
12.31 pm
Mr. Oliver Heald (North-East Hertfordshire) (Con): Will the Leader of the House please give us the business for next week?
The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Peter Hain) : The business for next week will be as follows:
Monday 2 February—Remaining stages of the Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill.
Tuesday 3 February—Remaining stages of the Child Trust Funds Bill.
Wednesday 4 February—Debate on Lord Hutton's Report on a motion for the Adjournment of the House, which will be opened by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and closed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.
Thursday 5 February—Motions on the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2004–05, followed by a motion on the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2004–05.
Friday 6 February—Private Members' Bills.
The provisional business for the following week will be:
Monday 9 February—Second Reading of the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Bill.
Tuesday 10 February—Opposition Day [4th Allotted Day]. There will be a debate on a motion in the name of the Liberal Democrats, subject to be announced.
Wednesday 11 February—Motion to approve the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 (Amnesty Period) Order 2004 followed by Opposition half-day [5th Allotted Day] (1st Part). There will be half-day debate on an Opposition motion. Subject to be announced.
Thursday 12 February—Motion to take note of the outstanding reports of the Public Accounts Committee to which the Government has replied. Details will be given in the Official Report.
I should also like to inform the House that the business in Westminster Hall for February will be:
Thursday 5 February—A debate on the report from the Broadcasting Committee on the rules of coverage.
Thursday 12 February—A cross-cutting question session on "healthy living", followed by a debate on the report from the Science and Technology Committee on light pollution and astronomy.
Thursday 26 February—A debate on the Report from the Public Administration Committee entitled "On Target? Government by Measurement".
The House will wish to be reminded that, subject to the progress of business, we will rise for the half-term week on Thursday 12 February and return on Monday 23 February. The House may also wish to be reminded that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that the Budget will take place on Wednesday 17 March.
Mr. Heald: I thank the Leader of the House for giving us the business. The local authority and police grant
debate will be one of the most important next week for all Members. Why has it been placed on the shortest day, given that the business on Monday and Tuesday looks somewhat light?Can we have a proper debate in Government time on the deplorable decision, which has been implemented today, to downgrade cannabis and skunk and reduce enforcement in cases involving them? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that that decision will lead to many more people experiencing the miseries of mental ill health and send out a message that the Government do not mind if our young people mix with hardened criminal pushers or join the first rung of the ladder that leads them to hard drugs use?
Why is it that this country cannot handle snowfalls, and everything just grinds to a halt? Has no one in the Government noticed that it seems to be an annual occurrence? Are Ministers aware that traffic is gridlocked; roads have not been gritted; schools are closed; flights have been cancelled; and cities such as Norwich have been cut off, leading the Salvation Army to open its hostels for the stranded? It is sheer blooming misery for commuters. Can we have a statement from the Minister in charge of our response to snow? And by the way, just who is that?
The Government suffered a narrow victory, by five votes, on the top-up fees issue on Tuesday. Should not the Standing Committee on the Bill reflect not only the party political composition of the House but the strength of opinion as expressed in the Division on Tuesday? The arrangements are set out clearly on page 693 of "Erskine May". Will the Government follow precedent and ensure that the Labour rebels are fairly represented on the Committee? Does the Leader of the House agree that the Committee should not have a Government majority of more than one?
The Leader of the House will have heard the calls from both sides of the House for a full inquiry into how this country went to war in Iraq. He will know that the Franks report followed the far less controversial Falklands war. The public want to know why the Government said that there were weapons of mass destruction, yet none were found. Can we expect an early statement—[Interruption.] Hearing the noise from the Liberal Democrats reminds me that one hon. Member asked me to call for a debate on the plague of wild boars on the Kent-Sussex border. It may be that that plague has spread a little closer to this place than we had realised.
Mr. Hain: On the hon. Gentleman's last point, I was interested to note that the ritual demand that we have heard from him in the past few weeks for a two-day debate on the Hutton report was not repeated. Why is that? Well, he has double standards. The report did not say what the Tories wanted it to say and that is why he is no longer interested in a two-day debate on the Hutton report. The truth is that the Conservatives should have the good grace to admit that they were wrong to accuse the Prime Minister of lying, wrong to impugn my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, and wrong to accuse the whole Government machine—including civil servants—of falsifying evidence and manipulating procedures. The Leader of the Opposition should have the good grace to make a full-blooded apology, in the Opposition's time.
On the question of a wider inquiry, the Iraq survey group has been completing its work—
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con): When will it finish?
Mr. Hain: As the hon. Gentleman reminds us, it has no date for completion of that work. Iraq is a big country, and the results will not fit into a Conservative timetable for a debate in the House of Commons. The group will complete its work, and I remind hon. Members that it has uncovered considerable evidence of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programmes. I would be happy to quote the evidence from Dr. Kay, if the House wishes me to do so. Let us have no more hypocrisy. Instead, let us have some apologies from the Leader of the Opposition and the chairman of the Conservative party, who have criticised the Government for lying—they have been at it again in the past few days. They should come to the House and apologise because, according to Lord Hutton, their accusations are unfounded.
The hon. Gentleman raised some specific issues. On the local authority finance and police grant reports debate, the issues will not be cleared until the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments a few days before. There will be plenty of time to discuss the reports, so that is a bogus point, if I may say so.
On cannabis, I want to be clear about what the hon. Gentleman is saying.
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