European Affairs

I do not want the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee to spoil my flow, but I will of course give way to him in a moment. The result in Britain was astonishingly bad for Labour. It was pointed out earlier that the Labour party did not compromise with the electorate; in return, the electorate certainly did not compromise with the Labour party. For instance, Labour came second in Wales for the first time since 1918. One startling fact is that in the Rhondda valley, Labour got only a third of the vote, down from 68 per cent. at the last election—and on that point, I give way to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.