Prime Minister's statement on the European Council
Brooks Newmark calls on the Prime Minister to bring the Government's off-balance-sheet financing - currently more than £1 trillion - on balance sheet.
Mr. Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con): Given that the Prime Minister has called for greater transparency, with off-balance-sheet financing being brought on balance sheet by the private sector, will he be bringing such discipline to the public sector accounts, which currently show more than £1 trillion off balance sheet, or is this another case of, "Do as I say, not do as I do"?
The Prime Minister: Whatever the debate, the hon. Gentleman always asks me the same question about off-balance-sheet activity. The answer is that we follow the international standards and the Office for National Statistics on that, and, in fact, we follow the practice of the Government whom he supported.
