If the Government were serious about tackling the Crisis of Unemployment and Job Insecurity, a sensible first move would be to support new clause 1, publish the report that we call for and to act on it to ensure that each and every Budget measure generates work and eases the chronic problem of job insecurity that afflicts so many millions of people.

It is a tragedy that the Financial Secretary and the Government did not respond with the seriousness that our proposal warranted, just as they have not tackled the Unemployment and Job Insecurity Crisis that the country faces with the seriousness that it deserves.