There is so much to say in this debate: so much ground to cover. But in fact, I did not want the first word today, so I sat down with one of my colleagues who I felt should kick off today’s debate.

Our Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell.

Today’s combination of hyper-loose monetary policy and tight fiscal policy means that the asset-rich get richer while the asset-and-income-poor get battered. If you’re lucky enough to own a house or shares or pension rights, you’ve done well since 2010: the stock market is up 40%; house prices are up by over a quarter; and the ‘triple lock’ on pensions in the UK will have channelled more than £33 billion extra to those with pension rights by 2020. Yet those on tax credits have seen their incomes fall precipitously while, of course, benefiting not at all from asset-price inflation; needless to say, they have little if any pension rights to protect.

Britain’s enterprise economy risks going into reverse as new House of Commons library figures commissioned by Liam Byrne MP, reveals over 1 million people have left ‘entrepreneurial activity’ in the last three years.