Will the hon. Gentleman pass on to his right hon. Friend the message that I am sorry that the Secretary of State was not chosen to answer this question, as, the day after the Treasury Minister made that comment, the right hon. Gentleman was quoted, presumably accurately, as saying that prescription charges for the elderly are "politically unacceptable" and will be brought in only over his "dead body"?

As, a few days later, on 18 June, the Prime Minister used three columns of Hansard, columns 303-05, to say that prescription charges were being considered, what exactly is the policy of the Department of Health, and how does it square with what is in the Labour manifesto?