Yes, it is sinister.
This is an attack not just on workers’ rights, but on our most basic and fundamental human rights. As Liberty has said:
“Applied to any type of protest these proposals would be a mark of an authoritarian and controlling Government.”
Of course, this Bill does not only pick off individual trade unions; it also attacks the very existence of trade unions. Unsurprisingly, trade union political funding is at the centre of this attack, while the Tories’ millionaire donors are rewarded with seats in the other place.
Not only does this Bill have the wrong answers, but it is not even asking the right questions. It shows the powerful now wish to hold the powerless to account.
I did not come to this House just to give voice to the voiceless, but also to let them have their own voice, and tonight I shall vote to do exactly that.
8.52 pm