Oral Answers to Questions

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that there are lessons to be learned. As I have said, I think that it was right to respond to what Libya did in terms of weapons of mass destruction, but I do not think that the way in which that response was handled was right. Too much credulity was shown, particularly over issues such as that of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man who was convicted of the biggest mass murder in British history. Universities will also want to ask themselves, as they are doing, some pretty searching questions about what they did.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

Q12. The Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has said that the Government’s economic policy is going in precisely the wrong direction. Does the Prime Minister really wish to be remembered as a reincarnation of President Herbert Hoover, whose policies led directly to the great depression of the 1930s, and to leave the future open to our leader to be a new Roosevelt and lead us away from that?

[The Prime Minister]

As a job application, that was at the greasy end of the spectrum, I think. I prefer to listen to the head of the OECD, who is in London today, and who has said:

“I think dealing with the deficit is the best way to prepare the ground for growth in the future.”

When it comes to the question of who supports this Government’s policy, we have the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, the Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI and the Bank of England. When the shadow Chancellor was asked recently, “Who supports your economic policy?”, there was a long pause and he finally replied, “The Guardian.” I will keep my supporters, and you can keep yours.