Mr. Gerry Light:

It is hard to speculate in respect of answering that question but history is repeating itself. I have been a practising trade union official and activist for almost 35 years. To me it appears that when it has come to the interests of the State and those of many governments, the interests of workers have always been put second. We have seen yet another demonstration of this in the years since Clerys. There was every reason for swift action but it did not happen. Covid happened and we have had the instances of Debenhams and Arcadia. This must be the spur to look at the situation and ensure there is no repetition. Workers have to understand where they lie in the priorities of the State and successive governments. It is up to them to do something about it, whether through joining a trade union or other actions all the way to the ballot box. There are ample examples to prove that the interests of workers have not been served well by successive governments in recent years for a variety of reasons. We could probably spend the rest of this hearing going into them.