As I said, I am not unsympathetic to the case for a debate on the countryside, but I hope that such a debate would be broad and enable us to deal with the rural economy, other aspects of public service in the countryside and the way forward, and not only the Crisis of the Past Few Months.

Occasionally, as in the Crisis of the Past Few Months, we have seen the chief executive of our primary care trust - an excellent public servant - trying to persuade us that the problem is solved because they have found a new and clinically better way to treat people that, surprise surprise, will cost less in the long run.