My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was absolutely right to point out that we face a Major Sovereign Crisis unless we take serious action.

Some would say, in respect of sovereign debt, that the case is not proven as to whether the rating agencies also had a role in triggering some element of the Sovereign Crisis.

However, the build-up of imbalances in the euro area was not reflected in the data in the run-up to the Sovereign Crisis, so it is crucial that the quality of national statistics in Europe is improved to underpin the assessment by CRAs and all others.