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00:00And unlike Labour in government, Plaid Cymru's support for 1950s-born women has not swayed with the tide.
00:06We believe it is inexcusable that the Labour government has refused the recommendation of its own regulator,
00:12the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman, to provide compensation,
00:16justified by what we've always heard, saying the cost would not be fair or proportionate use of taxpayers' money.
00:23Paper justice, justice without compensation, without redress,
00:27is an insult to a system which bothers to pretend that the Ombudsman's offices can protect the citizen
00:35from the incompetency or the failures of the state.
00:38As things stand, this isn't even a tissue of justice.
00:42It's particularly unjustifiable because the Ombudsman makes it clear in its final report
00:46that finite resources should not be an excuse for failing to provide a fair remedy.
00:52But the level of compensation set out by the Ombudsman does not go far enough in the first place.
00:56It does little to account for the impact, both financial and otherwise, of affected 1950s-born women.
01:02Plaid Cymru have consistently supported compensation of at least level 5 on the Ombudsman scale between £3,000 and £9,950.
01:13Now, these were women who, during their careers, their voices were not heard.
01:19That is the experience of many of them and many of us.
01:22It is a shameful thing that with the Labour government in power, their voices remain unheard.
01:28Their impact on 1950s women deserves more than a meagre apology.
01:32We have it, and I am very grateful to the Member for South Holland and the Deepings for bringing this debate,
01:38we have it in our power to have Opposition Day debates.
01:40There are 20 within a parliamentary session.
01:43That would be a means of bringing a vote to the floor of the House,
01:47and I would urge those parties who have it within their gift to bring forward an Opposition Day debate
01:52to do so to hear those voices and to have it recorded.