But there are two separate elements in the present Crisis in the Growth of public expenditure.

The country faces a Crisis of Growth because the economy is contracting.

In response to the question from the shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friendthe Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government,the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) said that we were facing a Crisis of Growth.

Only yesterday, the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government,the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), said from the Dispatch Box that there was a Crisis of Growth in this country.

Does the Prime Minister agree with his housing Minister that due to the economic policies of the Government, we now have a Growth Crisis?

The Prime Minister said last week that the country was facing a Growth Crisis, yet we come to a debate here about the central issue facing our country, and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats run out of speakers a long time before the end because they have nothing left to say.

It is also right that he and I will have the opportunity to debate the Ongoing Growth Crisis in the British economy in the House on Wednesday.

Only 16 months later there is a Growth Crisis in our country.

On growth, do the Government understand that Europe will not get to grips with its debt problems until it gets to grips with its Crisis of Growth?

We have a Growth Crisis.

There is a Growth Crisis in Europe at the moment.

The Statement was as follows: "This Council focused on the measures needed to address the Growth Crisis in Europe and complete the single market.

The Council focused on the measures needed to address the Growth Crisis in Europe and complete the single market.

He said that, "just as we had to tackle the euro crisis, so we have to tackle the Growth Crisis".

He is doing so not to sort out the Crisis of Growth here at home or across the EU, or to tackle the disgrace of youth unemployment, but in an effort to manage the divisions in the Conservative Party.

On growth, the Prime Minister used an instructive phrase in his post-summit press conference, when he said: “Just as we have to tackle the euro crisis, so we have to tackle the Growth Crisis”.

It is not to sort out the Crisis of Growth, it is not to tackle youth unemployment, and it has nothing to do with the national interest.

So, first, can he tell us whether he had any responses to the proposals on the Immediate Growth Crisis facing Europe that he took to the summit?

I think that the right hon. Gentleman did ask a question somewhere at the beginning: what did Britain bring to Europe's Growth Crisis?

He has demonstrated that one energetic and open-minded person who believes that the state has a key role to play in promoting economic growth can, in six months, come up with a telling analysis of Our Growth Crisis-and it is a crisis-and recommend 89 generally sensible and practical proposals to address that crisis, a task that has eluded a platoon of business Ministers for two and a half years.

The measures will take potential spending power and demand out of the local economy at a time when we have a Crisis of Growth.

The big gap in the Chancellor's record to date - and, to an extent, the Budget announcements today - remains that we have a Growth Crisis without having a growth plan.

The truth is that the Bill will not solve the Growth Crisis or concerns about immigration.

None of the measures in the Gracious Speech will solve the Growth Crisis that the country faces.

As the Leader of the Opposition made clear earlier this year, the Government's strategy on Europe has not been to sort out the Crisis of Growth, it has not been to tackle youth unemployment, and it has had nothing to do with the national interest - it has all been about managing the divisions in the Conservative party.