Given that the whole country now knows that, if the Labour party had been really honest, its election "early pledge" would have read, "Waiting lists will be shorter, but not yet," or, "Waiting lists will be shorter, but not for years," does the Secretary of State accept the view now widely held among the professionals he quoted and informed journalists - the view that my colleagues on the Liberal Democrat Benches have held for years - that waiting lists and times will not come downsignificantly and the NHS will not escape a Profound Financial Crisis until it receives at least a 3 per cent.

As we suffer the after-effects of a Profound Financial Crisis, none of us needs to be reminded that this is a matter of interest not just to constitutional experts.