Contributions
1,586 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Minister can of course look back in history at when these measures were put in, but the Bill seeks to change all sorts of things across all sorts of sectors. We are free from…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)Not a surprise.12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)Perhaps I can test the hon. Gentleman a little bit on that. I remember many happy hours as a child in Woolworths in the town where I grew up. They were fantastic stores, and they…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)Indeed, we know from their declarations of interest that they all are. I hope the Minister takes the question with the good intent with which it is asked. Not everybody is in a…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I have a couple of brief questions. I am grateful for the Minister’s clarification that the clause does not provide for a consultation of the whole workforce. That was a…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I can be very brief on this amendment, Ms Vaz; in fact, I will channel the questioning style of my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne). This is…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)Most of my concerns have been outlined in the amendments to the clause, but I want to ensure that it is placed on the record that the Opposition want to see employers engage in…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I understand the argument that the Minister has set out, and I appreciate that this particular probing amendment was at the extremer end of the spectrum in trying to probe that…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)The hon. Gentleman asks a perfectly legitimate question. I repeat that this is a probing amendment: we are not going to press it to a vote or try to put it in the Bill. The…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, although he was possibly milking it with the length of that intervention—[Hon. Members: “Oh!”] It is nearly Christmas. I accept the hon.…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. He is right that the businesses in the situation he describes would have to go through a legal process, probably involving…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Twelfth sitting)I beg to move amendment 127, in clause 22, page 33, line 12, leave out from “that” to end of line 21 and insert— “the reason for the variation was to provide for improved…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)Of course there will always be some who look for loopholes, but I gently suggest that the vast majority do not. They are good employers who care for their workforce, because, as…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. He likes to point to the profit lines of many of those businesses. Just because a business is making a substantial profit does not…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)I will speak briefly to amendments 160 and 161, standing in the name of the hon. Member for Dundee Central and the Scottish National party. These amendments seek to make the fire…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)I think this is one of the least contentious parts of the Bill, and we do not seek to oppose in any way the important protections for pregnant women and new mothers. I note that…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)The Minister tempts me, but I will set out our rationale for new clause 28 and amendment 134. I acknowledge that he has published a series of impact assessments, but the…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am grateful to the Minister for that clarification. I understand the point about autumn 2026, but would he acknowledge that the vast majority of businesses are probably already…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)I have a straightforward question. We are back once more with our old friend of not having full clarity and having consultation after legislation. The Minister gave a figure, but…12 Dec 2024HANSARDEmployment Rights Bill (Eleventh sitting)As I hope I made clear in my opening remarks, amendment 155 is a probing amendment. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn .12 Dec 2024