The right hon. Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Jenkin) very much believes that he will get the money to provide about £6 billion in tax credits. My belief is that, if the Conservatives were to get in, that £6 billion would vanish before they were able to implement the very first of their policies, and the visionary ideal that so many of them have would come down to earth very rapidly indeed.

The right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East, as I mentioned earlier, talked about tax incentives which were to be provided to enable people to get rich and to prosper out of post-tax income. No one can doubt that at a time of economic difficulty, the level of taxation is bound to be higher than that which we would otherwise be prepared to accept.

It is also true that at a time when there has been a decline in the standard of living—necessitated by the increased price of oil—there should be a sharing of the burdens. Whenever there is a sharing of the burdens, that, by its very nature, is bound to have a greater effect on those with high incomes than on those with medium incomes, while at the same time one hopes to be able to assist—as we have done—those on low incomes.

That is the best way of dealing with the population and the country when we experience economic difficulties. This was understood in 1940 when we had a level of taxation which no one could ever justify on economic grounds. We had an excess profits tax of 100 per cent. and income tax at 19s. 6d. in the pound. Their economic effect was nil, but their uniting effect on the country as a whole was enormous. In that kind of situation, given these economic difficulties we have been able to keep the country united by sharing burdens in the most equitable way possible.

But that was not understood in 1931 when the Tories had another chance, because at that time the wealthy and leisured society did not change its amusements and even sharply increased the divisions in our society. Many people will consider that what happened at that time has led to many of the industrial problems that we have subsequently seen.

I believe that reductions in taxation can make a valuable contribution to the economy. But I make no apology for the level of tax which was consequent on the decline of our national income as a result of the oil price increase. Had there been a Tory Administration to carry out the particular programme that was needed then as a result of the profligacy of the previous Conservative Government, we would have seen not only privilege under attack but we might not have remained free from its being only a verbal conflict. It could have assumed more dangerous and unpleasant forms.

What we have seen is the debate that is going on in the Conservative Party, that has still not been resolved and is unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily—certainly not for the country—between those who advocate the control of the money supply and those who advocate some sort of pay policy. The argument is seen in its most personal form between the right hon. Member for Leeds, North-East and the right hon. Member for Lowestoft (Mr. Prior).

The right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East complained that there was no monetary analysis in the white paper. I myself find that the conflict going on inside the Conservative Party is now at a very interesting stage, because the Conservative Party is now seeing the possibility of its having to come to an agreed decision as to whether it will have the recklessness and the audacity to risk—on the strength of a disputed theory—the task of running the country.

Not many hon. Members were present on Monday night when the hon. Member for Blaby made an astonishing commitment. He said: The Bank of England"— as a result of his proposals— would then, in effect, be charged by Parliament with ensuring that the target was met".— The hon. Gentleman ended his speech by saying: it will fall to the next Conservative Government to embark on this course".—[Official Report, 13th March, 1978; Vol. 946, c. 168, 170.] I see the hon. Gentleman still on the front bench. Apparently it is now his commitment to tie the Government's hands and to settle in advance—by some form of legislation—what the monetary target of this country should be and then to take it out of the hands of the Government and leave it to the Bank of England to implement.

Those who understand these problems know that a dollar crisis or something similar can occur within a few hours and they know the sort of flexibility that is needed. Hon. Members who have scorned and disdained this Government's regular fine tuning should know that the fine tuning we have done so far is nothing compared with the fineness of the tuning that would be needed to keep to the statutory monetary targets that are to be laid upon the civil servants responsible.

This would be an unnecessary strait-jacket and it makes us wonder why the Opposition have such a peculiar attitude to what is, after all, only one indicator among many that could be produced to achieve much the same purpose. If we look at what has happened over the years, we can understand what makes them so neurotic about a monetary target that was barely known to the general population more than a decade ago. If we look back, we can understand why the Opposition take these matters to heart so strongly.

In 1971, the figure for sterling M3 was 13 per cent. It went to 27 per cent. in the following year and it remained at 27 per cent. the year after. Since this Government came to power, the annual figures have been 10 per cent., 6 per cent., 9 per cent. and 8 per cent. We see that the Opposition are trying to tie the hands of the Government, but their quarrel is not with this Government but with the previous Tory Administration. That is what it is all about.

No conflict is ever fought with greater bitterness than the conflict of the civil war within the Conservative Party. We hear the distant sound of artillery as the struggle continues.

The great danger that we face with this Opposition is that, under the respectable and fashionable cloak of monetarism, they are trying to abdicate from monetary control. They will really be seeking heavy devaluation, assisted by cuts in public expenditure, which will inevitably lead to cuts in confidence. We see all this as further evidence of pre-war unenlightened Toryism. In this form of monetarism we see the use of new theories to justify old intentions.

If the Conservatives ever came to power, they would realise the nonsense of implementing this absurdity. If they tried to implement it, they would find themselves having to withdraw it. If they did not change their minds, they would be defeated by the facts they strove to oppose. They would be like a stage army marching to the top of the hill and down again with barely enough time at the top to admire the view.

What is all this about? Why do the Conservatives feel that this is so important? They want to have scope to reduce the highest levels of taxation among the wealthy. They still believe, despite the facts of the past, that they are able to introduce incentives that will produce an increase in productivity and will set the country going again.

We have the example of the past. This happened in 1962, when Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, as he was then, decided that he would reduce the level of taxation for the wealthy to see whether the incentive effects produced results. The surtax threshold was raised from £2,000 to £5,000 a year. What happened? The Tories had to change their minds within two years. They did not learn from their experience. They tried the same thing again in 1971. Once again, they found themselves assisting those paying the highest levels of income tax in the guise of the changeover to the new unified tax system. They tried the same trick again. It took three years this time, and at the end of the three years, despite the enormous incentives given at the top end of the scale, they still found themselves with an economic crisis on their hands.

To try to go along the same road once again and to try to justify handouts to the wealthy in order to produce results in industry is to fail once more in the task that they have set themselves.