Employment Bill [Lords]

I understand that. Indeed, in my own constituency I have had experience of one or two such situations. I understand what my hon. Friend and other colleagues are saying. That is why we are not complacent. We are maintaining the dialogue and, if necessary, we will take further action. My hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Ms Clark) raised a point, which was touched on by one or two other colleagues, about mariners. That is a complex matter, as my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) said. Under current legislation, all resident and non-resident seafarers are entitled to the minimum wage while they are in the UK's internal waters. A seafarer on a UK-registered ship anywhere in the world is entitled to the national minimum wage unless his employment is wholly outside the UK or he is not ordinarily resident in the UK. International maritime law, and specifically the right of innocent passage, means that the UK is unable to apply legislation to ships sailing under the flag of another country. That is reciprocal. For example, British ships enjoy that right in the Gulf and when passing close to Saudi Arabia. If the Government were to apply further legislation just to UK flagships they would run the risk of those ships flagging out and diminishing the number of UK ships sailing under the UK flag, something that the Government are committed to preventing. If vessels choose to flag out, not only will the number of UK flagships diminish but the seafarers aboard will miss out on the other entitlements that sailing under the UK flag ensures. Understandably, the issue of tips and how they relate to the minimum wage was raised by a number of colleagues. Regarding tipping, I strongly agree with the view of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform that that is an important issue. I want to assure hon. Members that we are looking carefully at finding a solution. I, like so many others who have spoken, feel that when a tip is given to a waiter in a restaurant or catering establishment, that tip should go to the waiter or waitress and not to the boss or the national company involved.