Page "John Smith (Labour Party leader)" Paragraph 13

In a June 1993 debate, Smith again savaged the Conservative Government, saying that under John Major's premiership, " The man with the non-midas touch is in charge.

It is no wonder that we live in a country where the Grand National does not start and hotels fall into the sea " ( in reference to the Holbeck Hall Hotel, which had recently collapsed over a cliff ).

During the same debate, Smith referred to a recent Government defeat in the Newbury by-election, a poor showing in the local elections, and a subsequent Cabinet reshuffle by saying that, " If we were to offer that tale of events to the BBC Light Entertainment Department as a script for a programme, I think that the producers of Yes Minister would have turned it down as hopelessly over the top.

It might have even been too much for Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em ".

In the same speech, Smith also attacked the Tories ' broken election promises ( in particular Lamont's recent Budget decision to impose VAT on domestic energy bills )-claiming he possessed the last copy of a 1992 policy document " to escape the Central Office shredder ".

He also performed very well in the motion of confidence debate in the Conservative government in July 1993.