James Murray

I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will have been interested in our measures in the Budget for the British Business Bank, for instance, to increase access to finance, particularly for many of those businesses that are trying to scale up and increase. But I come back to this central point—I know what his position will be because he is a loyal member of the Opposition Benches and will follow what the Leader of the Opposition said on Budget day itself—which is that the Conservative party does not support our decision to require banks to pay a little more for a temporary period of time to fund household support across the country. We know that banks are coming from a strong position. It is a temporary increase. It is one that we believe is fair, targeted and proportionate. We are asking banks—requiring banks—to pay that extra amount, and they are therefore contributing towards the important support for households. What I think is sad about this debate is that the Opposition do not support that breathing space for households. I thought the right hon. Gentleman was loyal to his party leader, but if he would like to break ranks and intervene on me again to confirm that he supports our £100 household energy payment, that would be helpful.