§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Kenneth Clarke)Contrary to popular belief, I always look at the mirror in the morning. I am reasonably well prepared for this occasion and I am about to deliver the real Budget statement. I think this is positively my last appearance in the House in a speaking capacity this week, or so at the moment I expect it to be.
The British economy is today prosperous and successful. This Budget is going to make it even more prosperous and an even bigger success over the coming years.
When I presented my first Budget in 1993, it was against a very different economic background from today. Although the recovery had begun then, consumer confidence had not yet returned. Growth was not yet firmly established. Further firm action was needed on the public finances, and our critics, in 1993, were peddling doom and gloom about the British economy. The recovery is now in its fifth year. Consumer confidence has returned and we are achieving something unprecedented for a generation in this country—growth with low inflation and without a widening trade gap. But one thing has not changed in 1996—our critics are still peddling doom and gloom. With all their predictions of impending disaster, it is obvious that there is probably more than one Cassandra lurking in the Labour party.
In my first two Budgets I curbed the growth of public spending and took firm decisions on tax, which have brought borrowing down by almost a half since 1993. Last year, in my third Budget, I was able to return to cutting tax while spending more on the public services which the people I know care about most—health, schools and the police—and keeping borrowing on a firm downward path.
This year, I am presenting a Budget which builds on the last three. This Budget reduces public spending plans further, while providing more money for priority services. It makes responsible progress on our tax-cutting agenda, while getting borrowing down faster. This is not a reckless Budget on either tax or spending. In the run-up to Christmas I am not going to play Santa Claus, but this year I do not have to play Scrooge either.
I have one overriding aim, which is the lasting health of the British economy. [HON. MEMBERS: "And winning the election."] The lasting health of the British economy might win elections, that is true, but my first aim is the lasting health of the British economy. We are securing that by creating the best conditions for British businesses and British men and women to earn a living. All my 154 Budgets and all my policies have been designed to set this country on course to be the strongest industrial economy in western Europe in years to come.