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Business of the House

On Monday, the Leader of the Opposition paid a visit to the Stroud constituency—a fine place to come to, if I may say so. When asked by a journalist what difference a Conservative MP would make to the people of Stroud and Gloucester, he was quoted as saying:""They will make a big difference. They'll do what they say. The problem with the current MPs is they say they're going to defend the Post Office but they go to Parliament and vote against it, they say they're going to defend community health services but they go to Parliament and vote the other way…you would have a bunch of"—" Tory—""MPs committed to this area."" Given that my right hon. and learned Friend protects the rights of Back Benchers, may I suggest that she tell the Opposition, in the nicest possible way, to get some decent researchers? They could have looked at my voting record. More particularly, would she support my demand for a retraction, so that we can get some honesty back into politics and get people who are straight with the electorate for once?