Government Economic and Social Policy

Part of Orders of the Day — Opposition Day – in the House of Commons at 3:52 pm on 9 June 1993.

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Photo of Mr John Smith Mr John Smith , Monklands East 3:52, 9 June 1993

If that is so obvious, why did the Prime Minister say during the election campaign—when he knew the exact state of our public finances—that there was no need for increases in taxation? He said that there would be tax cuts and no cuts in public expenditure, which would be maintained. Of course, there is an explanation for that, to which I shall return. We were not told the full truth about our public finances at the last general election.

I shall now return to the promises made by the Conservative party. Incidentally, I hear that the Chancellor—the new Chancellor of the Exchequer—has been entertaining the Press Gallery at a lunch today, saying that it does not matter what one says during an election campaign: what matters is what is contained in the manifesto. His theory seemed to be that one could say whatever one liked during the campaign—if it was not in the manifesto, it did not matter. I hope that that will be repudiated.