Lone Parent Employment

: In his analysis of the labour market, will the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that nearly 2.4 million new jobs have been created since year zero—1997—and that even in the past year, which I believe we all accept has been a more difficult year for the economy and the labour market, 300,000 new jobs have been created in Britain? If he looks at the most recent labour market statistics, he will see that the claimant count has started to decline for the first time in 11 months.