Progressive Labour Party candidates felt the heat from their own supporters last night as Bermuda's unemployment crisis took centre stage at a town-hall meeting.*Editor's Note: this story has been corrected to note that Michelle Wainwright is a grandmother of seven, not a mother of seven as originally reported.But the PLP's Pembroke election team won applause by arguing their party has fought to protect families while trying to weather the global economic storm.And in a forceful speech Pembroke West candidate Vince Ingham laid the blame for the Island's economic troubles on the business community, which he said has no social conscience and is spending its cash supporting the One Bermuda Alliance instead of helping Bermudians.The meeting at Victor Scott Primary School, in the heart of one of the PLP's strongest areas, attracted about 100 people mainly aged 40 and above.Audience member Michelle Wainwright kicked a question-and-answer session into gear with a fiery outburst, saying she's a grandmother-of-seven unable to find a job even after recently going overseas to study.“I don't know how we got in this mess,” she said. “I kinda feel like we shouldn't be in this mess we got into with unemployment.“Unemployment means we get no money. No money means no food, no rent, no mortgage. I'm not happy about unemployment.“There's too many people unemployed in Bermuda. What's the problem? If we are in this mess, people like me need food every day.“I don't want to be selfish or not vote. Right now, I feel I'm not voting for PLP or OBA. He who feels it, knows it.”Pembroke Central candidate Walton Brown responded: “This is our most difficult time that we have ever experienced in Bermuda. There's tremendous hardship for a very large number of people.”Mr Brown said the PLP had provided unprecedented support to families and Government initiatives mean nobody should be in a position where they can't afford food or accommodation.One audience member then complained how his friend couldn't get a job at Grotto Bay Hotel, despite foreigners working there, and another said he had lost his post as a custodian at Mount St Agnes Academy for no reason, to be replaced by a Portuguese worker.“If you talk about being disillusioned, when you lose a job and you didn't do anything, that leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” said the second man.Mr Ingham replied: “The Government doesn't provide jobs. We have got employers in this Country and business in this Country who are doing some things right now for business reasons.“They have no social conscience and they are acting for their own interests. By the way, this is the same group of people that are pretty exclusively supporting the other side.“This is a time for everyone in Bermuda to be working together. The constituent in Bermuda who in my view is giving least of all is the business community.“I hear about what the Government should have done — it should have put money away, all sorts of things.“Ask the question: what were they [business] doing with the good times? What were they preparing for now?“Guess who's taking the pain right now? Our people, because that's who's getting cut.“When he says for no reason the position he was filling was terminated and someone with a different cultural background was more appropriate — that's absolutely wrong in 2012.“How do we deal with that? This Government has been very clear in its declaration that we are helping the people of Bermuda. I would like some business leaders to stand up and declare what they are going to do for the interests of Bermudians.”The PLP Government has been creative and invested, said Mr Ingham.He went on: “There's a pile of money sitting somewhere in Bermuda. I see that pile of money being spent now on a campaign by the other side.“I can tell you now, it's not coming from the black surrogates. It's coming from business and business leaders who are playing a game with our people.”Mr Ingham had touched on the theme of so-called black surrogates within the Opposition earlier in the meeting, when he questioned why people are calling for change.“Change to what?” he asked. “A system that's been governed by an elite few?“Are we being asked to change to a time that by having some black surrogates we will feel better? Is that what we are being asked to do?“This is not a time to go back. This is not a time for change. This is a time to look to the future.”Mr Brown and Mr Ingham were joined by David Burt, Marcus Jones and Rolfe Commissiong, candidates for Pembroke West Central, Pembroke South West and Pembroke South East, in addressing the audience at the beginning of the meeting.They sombrely acknowledged many constituents are suffering in the economic crisis — according to figures more than 3,000 people are currently unemployed — but argued the PLP is the party to bring Bermuda back to prosperity.Mr Brown said the PLP has always fought for social justice, and implemented programmes to train Bermudians and give incentives to small businesses.Mr Burt, the Junior Finance Minister, said Government has made tough decisions to increase debt in order to soften the blow for families.“If the Government didn't borrow money, where would we be right now?” said Mr Burt.He said bank customers should be given better protection against banks who try to take advantage of them, while he hinted measures to lower interest rates to promote growth would feature in the PLP's election platform.Mr Jones said many people, particularly in the Fairylands area he has canvassed, don't realise how much the PLP has accomplished in its 14 years. He urged supporters to be deaf to the criticism.Mr Commissiong stressed there is urgency for the PLP to retain power so it can continue its social agenda and bridge the gap between the rich and poor.“We come from your community and we are part and parcel of you. We are one and must not be divided,” he said.“We must ensure that when that prosperity comes back, it must be spread more evenly amongst all our people. So it will not only be enjoyed in Point Shares, but in Middletown as well.”Mr Commissiong said comments from blogs and “Opposition reports” had labelled PLP supporters uneducated.“You know how they look upon you,” he said. “The contempt they have for you and people who look like us. We have to change the mindset of society.”