Contributions
1,819 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnergy Costs: Support for BusinessesI think it is fitting if I start with the apology, because I inadvertently airbrushed my right hon. Friend out of a picture on Twitter last week. I think my team were confused: I…17 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI am surprised by how the hon. Gentleman, who normally speaks a lot of sense in the House, put his point across. Yes, of course it is the case that the NHS has been under…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will just make this point because I think Labour Members may find it useful. Those prices going up throughout the rest of the world, including here, has also pushed up wage…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillThe International Labour Organisation itself says—I will cover this shortly in my speech—that it is perfectly proper to have a balance between minimum service levels and people’s…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI always think that people think very carefully about this issue, and they are right to do so. We are operating within the context of a crisis in global growth. The International…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI feel I have been generous in allowing interventions and it is right to complete my segment so that others can get on and speak. We are mindful of and thankful for the…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will give way shortly; I will make a little bit of progress. Those children are desperately trying to catch up on learning that they missed throughout covid, and again they are…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillThe problem, as people will recognise, is that as we do not have a nationally agreed level of coverage—particularly in the ambulance service—it is difficult to know or predict…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillIt is because we were given adequate demonstration from the recent strikes that unfortunately in some cases the unions involved have not acted in the national interest, whereas…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI did not quite follow the hon. Lady’s point on the railways. The railways on strike days are finding it hard to offer any services at all, even for key workers and the people the…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is about minimum standards. For anyone who cares about the ability to take industrial action and to strike, what we are doing here…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Government firmly believe that the ability to strike is an important element of industrial relations in the UK. That…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillIt is fairly obvious to say that a minimum service level in railways, for example, is about people’s livelihoods rather than safety, but that the NHS and the ambulance service not…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will make a little bit of progress first. Right now, up and down the country, households are struggling with the repercussions of high inflation caused by covid and Putin’s…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will make a little progress. Then there are children, who are desperately trying to catch up on the lost learning—16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will set out in a bit more detail the way in which the legislation will work in a while, but, briefly speaking, secondary legislation by regulation will be used in each…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will give way in just a moment. I have already taken more interventions from Opposition Members than from Government Members. I think it is true to say that there comes a time…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillThe right hon. Gentleman should note that there are 40,000 more nurses now, and more doctors too. It is important to say that I agree with him, for once, because we are trying to…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is no reason that her constituents should suffer lesser protection than people who live in other European nations, most of whom are…16 Jan 2023HANSARD Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) BillI will make a little more progress, because I think that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, would like to hear from other Members, and I have been as generous as possible in allowing…16 Jan 2023