Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 25 November 1991.
Patrick McLoughlin
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
12:00,
25 November 1991
I suggest that the hon. Gentleman considers what happened to the Merseyside police force when the Mersey docks were privatised, because he will find no anomaly there. As I have said, we are currently considering the broader aspects of the matter. This is another example of the Labour party's total Opposition to privatisation and to people playing a part in the company in which they work. It has not changed.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
