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A Labour frontbencher has told of his “shame” and “embarrassment” at being brought up by an alcoholic father.

In a brave and emotional speech, Jon Ashworth spoke of the trauma of having to care for his dad who was too drunk to buy food or walk him home from school.

His speech saw Health Minister Nicola Blackwood moved to tears as she praised him for his courage in speaking out.

Mr Ashworth, the shadow Health Secretary, said that from the age of eight he was his dad’s main carer.

Speaking in a Parliamentary debate on alcohol harm , he said his parents divorced because of the strain his father’s drinking had placed on the marriage.

He began his speech with the words: "I am the child of an alcoholic.

“Throughout my life, I was an only child, in the week I would live with my mum and at the weekends I would live with my dad and my dad would spend the whole weekend drunk.

“From the age of eight or so going to my dad’s meant I was effectively the carer.

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“It was very typical for my dad to pick me up from school and literally fall over because he was so drunk,” he told MPs.

Mr Ashworth said he remembered having to go to a phone box to call a taxi to take them home because his dad could not walk the short distance up the street.

He went on: “Or I would go back and open the fridge, as you do and you want to eat some yoghurts or some chocolates or whatever, and the fridge being completely empty except for these huge, litre and half bottles of white wine - the supplies for the weekend.

“And it was my job to go down to the shops and get the food in for the weekend and sort things out.

“Christmas, my dad wasn’t bothered by Christmas. He never bothered with a Christmas tree and I would have to go down to the shops to get some decorations just to make the house look a bit Christmassy the way my friends' houses used to be.”

Mr Ashworth recalled the pain of watching his father play in goal in a football match and his workmates shouting: “Jon Ash is in goal, all you have to do is throw a can of Stella and he’ll go for that rather than the ball.”

“It was a joke but I remember thinking that’s my dad.

“It coloured my life. I went through the shame. The embarrassment, particularly as a teenager. The anger as well.

(Image: PA)

“But I always loved my dad and he always loved me. We were lucky, he was never violent, he was never abusive. Hundreds of thousands of children are not in that situation,” he said.

He added: “My biggest regret in life is that my dad moved to Thailand when he was about 59.

“That was that, he just went. Six months later I got married and he promised me he would come to the wedding and the day before he phoned and said he was not coming.

“I was so angry I could hardly speak to him. I wanted him to meet my new wife and meet my new family.

"A few months later he was dead. I had to go to Thailand to get the body and deal with the funeral.

“The friends he had met over there told me he was drinking a bottle of whisky a day.

“They told me he couldn’t come to the wedding because he didn’t want to embarrass me.

(Image: Getty)

“We were a working class family from Salford and I had gone to university and become a politician. Posh people would be at the wedding and he felt he would embarrass me by being there. I will always regret that.”

Mr Ashworth said he had been inspired to speak out by his Labour colleague Liam Byrne who has spoken of his own experience of having an alcoholic father .

He said it was only when Mr Byrne spoke out that he realised he wasn’t alone.

“There are more than two million children going through this circumstances,” he said.

He called on the Government to put in place a strategy for children of alcoholics and a statutory duty on local councils to look after kids in that situation.

Ms Blackwood had to pause her speech in response after being moved to tears.

(Image: PA)

She praised Mr Ashworth and Mr Byrne for their "bravery" in speaking out.

“I hope each member who has spoken today will continue to work with me as we fight to tackle this social injustice," she said, promising to sit down with MPs to draw up a strategy for tackling the problem.

Mr Byrne, the founder and chair of the all party group of children of alcoholics, said: “This is a breakthrough. For over a year we’ve tried to make sure that the voices of children of alcoholics are heard in parliament making the case for change.

“Now the government has listened. The government has agreed to sit down and hammer out a plan. Crucially ministers have agreed with our number one goal: no child of an alcoholic should ever feel alone.”

The Minister said the Government would sit down with MPs to develop Britain's first ever strategy for children of alcoholics.

Mr Byrne, the founder and chair of the all party group of children of alcoholics, said: "This is a breakthrough. For over a year we've tried to make sure that the voices of children of alcoholics are heard in parliament making the case for change.

"Now the government has listened. The government has agreed to sit down and hammer out a plan. Crucially ministers have agreed with our number one goal: no child of an alcoholic should ever feel alone."