Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)

What we get from the Members opposite is more akin to the constant cries of "We are doomed" by Private Frazer in "Dad's Army". I accept that the Opposition has a duty to perform. All I ask is that it do so constructively and honestly. Even a cursory perusal of the motion leads me to the sad conclusion that a large number of Members on the benches opposite, with some exceptions, inhabit what I would charitably call a solution-free zone. I do not doubt for one minute that Deputy Boyd Barrett and his colleagues are all concerned with the crisis of joblessness, but the 460,000 plus people who are out of work demand a sustainable recovery, sustainable jobs and realistic solutions to the problems they face. Many Deputies agree that none of the empty rhetoric in the House to date and in the coming weeks and months will pay the bills or feed the families of the people we represent.

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