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Equitable Life

My hon. Friend makes an important point, because there have been huge delays during this process—I shall detail some of those that the Government have engineered—and, as a consequence, many of the policyholders have died and will not see justice delivered. The fight for justice has united Members from all parts of the House, and I commend the creation of the all-party group on Equitable Life Policy Holders, which is chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) and the hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Hamilton), a Labour Back Bencher. I pay tribute to the work that they have done within this House to ensure that Equitable remains on its agenda. Tribute must also be paid to the Equitable Members Action Group—EMAG—which has galvanised policyholders into an effective campaigning body. EMAG's members have not been slow in making their views known to Members of Parliament and their lobbying has been effective in maintaining the profile of this issue for many years.