Trade Union Bill

The right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Alan Johnson) suggested that such e...

Britain has low levels of industrial disputes relative to our main economic rivals—half the EU av...

I welcome many of the provisions in the Bill, which brings some much-needed modernisation and a l...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that PCS is not affiliated to the Labour party?

I think it probably will be now that Labour has a new leader—it seems to be very politically alig...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a bit of a cheek for the right hon. Member for Kingston upon...

My hon. Friend makes a point that has been made often. I think we also saw the influence of the u...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, but my simple question is: why not deal with that through a ge...

My right hon. Friend has made that point and it is worthy of consideration. I am sure that he wil...

rose—

I have already given way, and I am afraid I will not do so again on this occasion—I would love to...

We have listened to some good speeches from Members, from both those who disagree with the Bill a...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not.

I sometimes wonder what the shareholders think of those companies. Have the...

You will be there soon, too!

Well, I will be next, but I will not be putting in the money these guys put in! Now we come on to...

Give way!

No. That is the reality and the truth. That is the Tory party—hypocritical.

6.17 pm

I rise perhaps in the same spirit as my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (...

Does the hon. Gentleman believe that the same argument should apply to the Bill’s provisions on h...

I consider health and safety to be a union duty rather than a union activity, so I agree with tha...

I have great experience of much of what is in the Bill. I have been on picket lines on countless ...

I echo comments that have been made by Members on both sides of the House. Without our trade unio...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the use of the terms “working families” and “working people” a...

I completely reject those comments. There is nothing in this Bill that is offensive: it is a mode...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the context of this Bill is that it is intended to deal with the p...

I agree with my hon. Friend. In today’s world, it is important that we maintain a competitive eco...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sorry, but I would like to make some progress.

I was proud to see that it was the orig...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sorry but I am keen to carry on.

Therefore it is right that key provisions in the exis...

I have been a trade unionist since I was 18 and am currently a member of Unison. I have also spen...

Does my hon. Friend agree that every time the Tories come to Parliament to introduce these sorts ...

They certainly do, and they have said the same of this legislation today.

The Tories have m...

Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis), I shall begin by decl...

Saying that strikes are disruptive is not an argument against trade unions. They are meant to cau...

Of course strikes are intended to be disruptive, but one of the fallacies that has been put forwa...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and ...

The hon. Lady might say that, but recent analysis shows that in the past four years, 3 million da...

Many of the hon. Gentleman’s colleagues have made that same point about strike ballots, using the...

Labour Members cannot have their cake and eat it. They cannot simultaneously say that this is an ...

rose—

Order. Just to try to ensure that everybody gets in, with 46 speakers still to come, we are going...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to take part in this important debate. It has been i...

Order. I call Richard Fuller.

6.54 pm

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald). I am del...

This is a Bill of naked discrimination against the trade unions, designed to cut the funding of t...

I was there in the 1980s, studying at the London School of Economics—the so-called hotbed of soci...

I declare my interest as a member of Unite the union. The Bill exposes the Government’s self-appo...

Order. Chris Philp.

7.10 pm

It is a pleasure to follow that thoughtful speech from the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy Mc...

But does the hon. Gentleman accept that those strikes have tripled since the Tories took over in ...

I think that it is very unfortunate that the RMT has chosen to be so confrontational. As my hon. ...

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and to ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not give way.

I urge the Government to listen not only to me and to my colleagues on...

Order. Mr Alan Mak.

7.19 pm

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate on reforming and modernising ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that often it is not trade union members in general who cause these str...

I thank my hon. Friend for his positive intervention; I completely agree. It is members of trade ...

Can the hon. Gentleman give some recent examples of “last-minute” industrial action?

Anyone who has used the London underground will know that the trade unions strike on a whim and c...

Over the course of history, the workplace has been the scene of many grave injustices: slavery, c...

Does my right hon. Friend share my concern that successive Conservative Members have praised trad...

It rings very hollow.

The Government would have us believe that they are impartial in passi...

Within a few months of starting as a foreman in a motor factory in the early 1980s, I managed to ...

The hon. Gentleman has said that he has worked in industry as a foreman. Surely he agrees that it...

I absolutely agree that it is extremely important to have time to conduct those duties in a respo...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to speak in this debate on a Bill that has, at ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I will not: I want to make some progress.

This Bill undermines a number of basic, funda...

Order.

7.38 pm

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Livingston (Hannah Bardell).

I was brought u...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and declare that I ...

Will my hon. Friend explain the benefits of e-balloting and workplace ballots?

There is a contradiction in the Government’s position. E-balloting is accepted for the first stag...

Is my hon. Friend aware that e-balloting is also used for the Royal National Institute of Blind P...

Absolutely. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. A plethora of organisations —[I...

Order. I am desperate to hear the hon. Gentleman, but I cannot hear him because there are too man...

I am grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker. My hon. Friend’s point was excellent and well made. In modern t...

Order.

7.48 pm

I would like to declare myself as a proud trade unionist all my working life. I am grateful for t...

For the record, I am not, and never have been, a member of a trade union. I want to bring to the ...

My hon. Friend is indeed giving a different perspective from the other side of the table from the...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. In fact, many of the issues raised could be dealt with th...

On the SNP’s trade union group website, there is a page entitled “Labour’s Levy”. Can we agree th...

Whatever views there might be on the political levy, the Bill is most certainly not the way to de...

I rise to oppose the Bill in the strongest terms on behalf of Plaid Cymru. As the son of a retire...

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that there are trade union traditions within many of the politica...

I am grateful for that well-made point. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his excellent speech...

My dad came to this country from County Cork as an Irish navvy. He came here to dig roads. He joi...

My hon. Friend is making a strong case. From his years of experience in the trade union movement,...

The great Jack Jones once said that working people have two ways to access power: their union car...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. He used to be my boss, and a very good boss he was too. In...

The idea of cabals of shop stewards who pursue nakedly party political or political agendas is a ...

Clause 3 sets out the important public services for which 40% support will be required in ballots...

No, and I dealt with the nuclear industry for 15 years. There were rarely disputes, there were ve...

I refer Members to my registered interests. I am a proud trade unionist and secretary of the GMB ...

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that this is not just an attack against one political party and t...

That is right. One example is the anti-racist organisation HOPE not hate that I have enjoyed camp...

It is an attack not just on freedom of association but on freedom of speech. People have to give ...

I agree that it is gravely concerning, and I will come on to that point. Indeed, clause 9 states ...

I declare an interest in this debate as a proud member of my trade union Unite.

The freedom...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I apologise but I must make progress. I am conscious that a lot of Members wish to speak.

I...

rose—

Order. Before I call the next speaker I am afraid that I must reduce the time limit to three minu...

I declare an interest as a proud member of the Unite union, and I draw attention to my relevant d...

Does my hon. Friend agree that local government and public services are completely devolved to Wa...

My hon. Friend is right to say that the Government have failed to take into account the views and...

I direct the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud memb...

As someone who has campaigned with organisations such as HOPE not hate, is my hon. Friend as conc...

I agree. There are few organisations that challenge the political fallout of those hates and fear...

I draw the attention of the House to my declaration of interests, which includes membership of th...

My hon. Friend might be guilty of wildcat tweeting—[Laughter.]

That would be a terrible crime, and I would not wish to be accused of such a grave offence.