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Welsh Affairs

I hear the hon. Gentleman’s comments, but I have talked to many teachers and parents in my constituency who are enormously supportive of keeping 1 March a normal school day. If it was a public holiday, and if we asked schools to celebrate St. David’s day on an alternative day, the opportunities for Welsh children to learn about their national heritage would be reduced. That is just my point of view. Burberry was mentioned earlier in a cheap attempt to suggest that my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones) and I are unsympathetic to the Burberry workers who are losing their jobs. It is a tragedy for those workers who face redundancy. Anybody who grew up in a household in which there has been worklessness will know what a tragedy unemployment can be.