Business of the House

The Leader of the House has announced that there will be a statement by the Chancellor on the pre-Budget report on Monday week, but she has not announced any time for a debate on it. Last year, there was no debate on the pre-Budget report, and she was good enough to concede to me and others that that was less than satisfactory. This year’s pre-Budget statement is probably the most important statement that the Government will make in this Parliament, and it is quite wrong that we should have no time to debate it, and unacceptable that it should be rolled into a general debate on the Government’s legislative programme. Will she reflect on her plans and make provision for a debate in Government time on the pre-Budget report?