Orders of the Day — The Economy

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:07 pm on 13 December 2000.

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Photo of Gordon Brown Gordon Brown The Chancellor of the Exchequer 5:07, 13 December 2000

The public sector debt is set out in the Red Book. We seek a figure of less than 40 per cent. Of course, in other countries debt can be a lot higher. We have reduced debt from the 44 per cent. that we inherited after national debt doubled—partly under the stewardship of the shadow Chancellor—to 33 per cent. It is falling to 30 per cent. in the next two or three years. The idea that we have not pursued a disciplined policy is completely outrageous. Again, the Conservative party cannot tell us whether it supports a balanced budget—three and a half years in opposition, four shadow Chancellors, lots of policy statements, and it cannot give us an answer to that simple question. That has been revealed this evening.

Now, the four challenges that we face as a Government are these: first, to entrench a culture of low—