Mr. Speaker, is that seriously all they have to say?
After turning a deaf ear to appeals from Germany and our allies to at least suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister clearly stated on Tuesday that cancelling this contract would cost $1 billion.
Where does this figure come from? From his imagination, apparently, because the next day, his office said that it was just a figure of speech. A figure of speech means saying something like “this is not rocket science” or “this is not brain surgery”. It does not mean snatching a number out of thin air in response to a question that called for a specific figure.
Why is the Prime Minister inventing numbers like this? Is he trying to avoid having to cancel the contract?