There is clearly a Nursing Crisis in inner London, and you, Sir, will be aware that in the last few days newspapers have carried headlines which dramatically illustrate the problem.

The National Health Service also faces a severe Nursing Crisis because of poor pay.

I spoke then about the Crisis in Nursing.

If uncontrolled growth is allowed to continue we will experience a Nursing Crisis.

Not once was my right hon. Friend challenged by Conservative Members on the reason for the present Crisis in Nursing.

The hon. Lady referred to a Crisis in Nursing.

What is happening is not something that could be dressed up in tabloid headlines as a meltdown, collapse or Crisis in Nursing; however, it is a genuine and serious problem, which can and should be tackled, and which calls into question the coherence of what the Government are doing and the haste with which they are acting.

As I said, I want briefly to say something about the Nursing Crisis in this country, not only because I have been in talks with my local hospital, but because I noticed that yesterday Jan Stevens, the chief nurse at London's biggest NHS hospital trust, pointed out that there is likely to be a real problem in that trust and in other hospitals as a result of the cap being applied.

My local Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is, by its own admission, in the midst of a Nursing Crisis, with about half the wards staffed at below the minimum staffing level for nurses.