Employment Bill [Lords]

I agree with my hon. Friend. There is a strong case that there should be no discrimination on the basis of age alone. On previous occasions, I have had a number of discussions with Ministers about exemptions for seafarers to national minimum wage legislation. The Minister for Energy will be aware that the current legal position is that foreign national seafarers are entitled to the national minimum wage on UK registered ships when they are in port or in internal waters. The result is that foreign workers on British ferries are being paid wages equivalent to £1, £1.50 and £2 an hour. Examples have been provided to the Government on a number of occasions. All workers on a UK registered vessel in UK internal waters—for example, a Caledonian MacBrayne ship sailing to the Western Isles—would be entitled to the minimum wage, but that would not be the case if they were on a non-UK registered vessel making the same trip.