Debate on the Address

Part of Sessional Orders – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 March 1974.

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Photo of Dennis Skinner Dennis Skinner , Bolsover 12:00, 12 March 1974

You are being a bit hard, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I know that that applies to athletic types like me, but let us be fair. It is not all that easy for the hon. Member for Rochdale.

So we are back on the merry-go-round again. I should like hon. Members to refresh their memories about what happened in 1970, when some of us came in and the Leader of the Opposition took on the mantle of Prime Minister. He got in in the long hot summer of 1970 with a £1,000 million surplus that had been provided by the British workers. It is true that the Labour Government had been in office, but the money came out of the sacrifices made by the British workers and their families. He ran away a few weeks ago leaving this sinking ship with a £2,500 million deficit which was growing day by day, a pound which had been devalued by between 18 and 20 per cent. abroad and about 25 per cent. at home, and 11 per cent. mortgages. It is no wonder that he does not talk about dividing the House on Monday.

One of my constituents, after I had mentioned the Duke of Devonshire's yachting marina, said, "You know, Dennis, we ought to run a bus trip". I said, "Where to, darling?" She said, "Eastbourne. We want to go down to that marina, and we want to put the Leader of the Opposition on top of Morning Cloud and give him a little push, just like that, and send him across the English Channel to the Common Market, because that is where his heart is and that is where he should stop."