Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Social Security – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 23 April 1996.
Edward Leigh
, Gainsborough and Horncastle
12:00,
23 April 1996
With the Transport and General Workers Union urging my hon. Friend to restore the earnings link—something which is still Labour party policy and would cost £7.4 billion—does my hon. Friend agree that the advice that he is receiving from the Opposition is not so much to think the unthinkable as to spend the unaffordable?
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".
