Member

I understand the dilemma the Government have on this and the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Browne, in a very thoughtful contribution, but we have to face the fact that we are not capable as a country of maintaining a reasonable standard of living and continuing the way we are running this place. It is just not working for us, and it is not working for the people. We are putting stress on ourselves and our public services. At the same time, huge amounts of money have been spent. The noble Lord, Lord Jackson, made the point about the money, but that is not the half of it. The last time the Minister gave me an answer, hotels were £6.7 million a day. I asked him what the cost of non- hotel accommodation was, and he told me it was costing too much to answer the question, so I did not get an answer, but I will get it, I can assure noble Lords.