If the economy comes right, we'll sail home, says Clarke So it will come as a relief to the Treasury that Mr Clarke is determined not to undermine Mr Osborne, saying he is contributing his views on economic policy but "not cutting across" his colleague. And on the core mission of the Coalition, reducing the deficit and balancing the public finances, he is a fiercely committed advocate. Not only, he says, is Mr Osborne's austerity plan necessary to avoid "total catastrophe" and return the economy to growth, it is also a duty owed to future generations. We all want to get back to better quality of life, but we have to think about our children, our grandchildren. We can't leave a world saddled by debt. Early in the Parliament, Mr Clarke riled colleagues by predicting a double-dip recession. That recession formally ended this week, but Mr Clarke is quick to dampen economic and political hopes that the good times are here again. If we are back to strong growth by the next election, we probably won't need to campaign. If at the next election, the economy is in strong normal growth, George Osborne will be given the Companion of Honour or something and we will all get safe back. But that, he suggests, is highly improbable. It would be absolute folly to turn around and say it will all be fine by Christmas. Anybody who says we are absolutely certain we are bouncing back to strong growth is being very optimistic. What I am confident we will be able to say at the next election is we were a strong hand on the tiller. Austerity will continue "as long as is necessary," well into the next parliament and potentially beyond. On Mr Osborne's plans, state spending in 2014-15 will account for 42.2 per cent of the economy. That's down from today's 43.4 per cent, but still too high for Mr Clarke. Spending should not be more than 40 per cent of GDP, he says. We can build growth on 40 per cent. I don't have some strange gut feeling that the state has got too big in my life, I just think you can't run a modern economy if the state is taking out half of GDP year-in, year out - 40 per cent gives you scope for growth. Presumably the poor economic outlook rules out any of the sweeteners the Conservatives promised for this parliament, like a transferable tax allowance for married couples? The question seems to surprise Mr Clarke, who chuckles. "We never committed ourselves to married couples" tax by the end of the parliament, did we?" When it is pointed out that such a commitment was indeed made, by none other than Mr Osborne, Mr Clarke erupts into full-blown hilarity. I'm married, I'm not counting on it. I don't remember anyone promising that kind of thing. If that is not enough to rile his Right-wing colleagues, he cheerily tramples on another ambition cherished by many in his party. Mr Clarke is almost the last of the lost tribe of Conservative pro-Europeans, his support for the EU unchanged even as his colleagues have drifted ever further towards scepticism and even a potential exit. Other Cabinet ministers are seriously discussing the possibility that national interests could be best served by leaving the EU. Mr Clarke's rebuke could not be sharper. Even debating the issue threatens international confidence in the UK, and raises the spectre of the sort of financial crisis recently experienced by Spain, Italy and Greece, he says. We are regarded by the outside world with more confidence than almost any other western democracy. To start threatening, throwing into the air, our relationship with the outside world, with the global economy, would I think be very reckless," he declares. I frequently say that to several of my colleagues: there seems little point in opening up the debate at the moment about our membership of the European Union. Warming to the subject, he dismisses those who blame the EU for recent troubles. The idea that somehow the present problems are caused by Britain's membership of the European Union is a theory that I can't quite follow. The present crisis was caused by the credit crunch which was American and British largely. Wall Street, the City of London and it spilt through. Blaming Europe, he suggests, is part of a wider tendency towards "strange," irrational responses to hardship that also explains public unease on wealth and immigration. At times of crisis, times of recession, people start grumbling about things. Some people get a bit anti-business, anti-wealthy, they start resenting foreigners, start finding strange theories about what got us into these problems. Politicians trying to govern a country can't take too much notice of that. Mr Clarke's advice is not just confined to one country. The US election must end its "paralysing" political gridlock and return a president able to tackle America's "enormous" debt problem. Germany must reduce its dependence on hi-tech exports. China's new leadership must ensure a "soft landing" for its economy. India could be faltering, and Brazil is a worry. The entire world economy must be "rebalanced" so the West borrows less and Asia spends more. Mr Clarke concludes his world tour with a strong defence of Theresa May, the Home Secretary, over her refusal to extradite Gary McKinnon, the computer hacker, to the US. What was she supposed to do? Say, 'I'm frightened of the Americans so I'm going to send him back"?" Mrs May's firm stance, as well as robust interventions over Europe, have led some Tories to talk of her as a possible future leader. Mr Clarke recently dispensed some advice to another possible contender, Boris Johnson, telling the London mayor to focus on the day job. Mrs May would do well to heed those words, he suggests, pointing out that the many predictions about his own prospects as party leader came to nothing. I am one of several people at Westminster who can tell you, once you start being identified as the next prime minister but two, it is a serious blow. Perhaps so, but it is a blow that Mr Clarke has clearly absorbed without any lasting harm.