The principle of spending cuts should be to cut flab. I am not suggesting this is the case for all first-time buyers but I have heard some harrowing stories – and I am sure the Minister and his advisers will be able to target resources towards these people – from people who said they would not have a carpet before Christmas if they did not get the grant. That would break my heart but it is the way married life always was – and I do not speak as any great authority on marriage. In my first co-habitation in Jerusalem we did not have a carpet, nor did we even have a pair of curtains but I was damn glad to be in that house with the person I cared about.