It has been argued - and this was one of the matters mentioned by the hon. Member for Birmingham, All Saints - that public expenditure was out of control even before the Oil and Coal Crisis and that in any event we would have had to cut back.

I turn to the points which have been made by hon. Members who argue that there has been overheating of the economy and that even before the Oil and Coal Crisis this overheating would have forced the Government to impose an economic stop.