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Unemployment in the UK

My hon. Friend is making an important point, and I hope that it will not be lost in party political jibes from the Labour Benches. At the moment, many companies that are well run have severe credit problems because of the banking crisis, in which the banks are not lending to each other, let alone to companies. In these circumstances, well-run companies may be short of credit and in a situation in which they and their creditors do not have time to come to some arrangement, as they would in normal conditions. We are in a crisis, and we require crisis thinking on a collaborative basis, so I welcome my hon. Friend's contribution.