(2 days, 2 hours ago)
Commons ChamberI am proud to be a Labour MP. Labour is the party of the dignity of work. We know that, for those who are able to, the best place to be is in work with a well-paid job with good rights. Does my hon. Friend agree that the previous Government did far too little to ensure that people who could work were helped back into work to get all the benefits and dignity that working can bring, and that they wrote off far too many people, which has left us in this sorry state?
I am glad that my hon. Friend is proud to be a Labour MP, as am I, and I am glad he is proud of the approach we are taking on employment, because so am I. We cannot afford this failure any longer in the cost to our public finances. We will never tolerate the failure in hope, dignity, ambition and opportunity that the levels of unemployment in this country now represent.