Enterprise Bill [Lords]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 19, in page 51, leave o...

Amendment 1 is in my name and those of 24 of my right hon. and hon. Friends, as well as hon. Memb...

Will my hon. Friend tell us why he is opposed to what the Government are seeking to do, which, as...

If my right hon. Friend will be patient, the purpose of my speech is to explain the reasons why I...

I thank my hon. Friend for his speech and his strong leadership on the matter. Does he agree that...

The impact assessment has been published today. That is important. The Bill has already received ...

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for his consistency on this subject. He stood for election in...

I hope that my hon. Friend knows that I have enormous respect for him and for his campaigns on ma...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. I saw that “but” coming. We have a job to d...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

In a moment. When we make this decision here in Parliament, everyone who votes against amendment ...

I will give way to my constituency neighbour.

I am pleased to be a signatory to the amendment tabled by the hon. Gentleman, who is my neighbour...

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady, who is included in the unholy alliance that, as I have ment...

There is another facet to this issue. One the one hand, the Government say that they are trying t...

I will come on to that point. The Government have made the case that the Bill will support high s...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Let me take my pick. I give way to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne).

Is it not misleading for the Government to describe this as a devolution measure? Is it not simpl...

rose—

Was that the hon. Gentleman’s point as well? I give way to him.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for allowing me to intervene, because this follows on smoothly from th...

There will be the inevitable domino effect of a race to the bottom if local authorities get hold ...

I will carry on for a moment.

The Government are making the case for devolving such powers ...

I will give way to a Member on the Conservative Benches.

I am sure that those who know my hon. Friend would agree that it is very rare for him to be in an...

I hear that point. Throughout this process, I have been open to such a debate, and I know that th...

I give way to a new face and a new voice.

I am not that new. Can my hon. Friend knock on the head the point that Conservative Members are m...

That is an important point. This is not simply about providing local councils with such powers, b...

The hon. Gentleman’s arguments are making a very good introduction to this debate. I understand t...

Yes, that is true. We should not tar all large retailers with the same brush. I think Tesco has a...

rose—

When I get into my speech, I will come on to the protections for shop workers, but before I do th...

As my constituency neighbour, the hon. Gentleman will remember walking down high streets such as ...

The issue about tourists is not for me. I will leave my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I want to make some progress.

Normally, as I understand it, the guidance for a Government c...

Will my hon. Friend nail the myth that the measure is designed to assist town centre retail trade...

Indeed. The knock-on effects of the measure need careful thought and attention.

The consult...

I very much respect my hon. Friend and his viewpoints. Nevertheless, will he explain why he think...

My hon. Friend will know that the Government’s review regarding high streets, about which he and ...

I will give way a couple of times, but then I must make progress as others want to speak.

3...

Surveys of internet shoppers show that there is no relationship between internet shopping on a Su...

I agree.

Does this not boil down to a question of local democracy? How can it any longer be—[Interruption....

Order. Mr Chalk is a most courteous Member of the House. Just as he is courteous to the House, th...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. How can it any longer be right for politicians in Westminster to block loc...

rose—

I will try to explain, but first I give way to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Ste...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I want to take him back to the point that he made abou...

Absolutely. It would be good if there were more transparency.

The Prime Minister has led th...

I, too, respect the comments of my hon. Friend, but will he explain why we are so concerned about...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is often low-paid workers, in many cases women, who are aff...

I am sorry, but I am going to make some progress so that other hon. Members have a chance to cont...

rose—

I must make some progress.

My concern is that the proposal has not been properly thought th...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the holy alliance that he has assembled behind his amendment...

The Government have tried to deal with that concern by putting forward additional religious prote...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that over half of those who work in shops in Northern Ireland, whe...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. We should also consider the potential domino effect of the...

Order. Before we proceed with the debate, I have now to announce the result of the deferred Divis...

Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) as the next spe...

indicated assent.

I appeal to colleagues to have regard to each other’s interests. We do not keep a formal list on ...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will certainly endeavour to do so.

I rise in support of the amendm...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way because of the time constraints.

The Government should stop insulting t...

I have been a district councillor for the past eight years. Facing a constant slew of demands on ...

I admire the attempt to get more people involved in local government by giving councillors more p...

I share the hon. Gentleman’s desire to keep Sunday special, but is that not a matter of personal ...

If the hon. Gentleman approaches this with good intentions, I advise him to talk to some of the r...

Like my hon. Friend, I will be part of the holy alliance trying to keep Sundays special. For peop...

I endorse those points entirely, although it is worth noting that church attendance in many UK ci...

I appreciate being called early in the debate, and I hope I can help by outlining our thinking an...

All those conditions were apparent just 10 months ago when the Conservative party stood on a mani...

I have huge respect for my hon. Friend, having worked with him on a range of issues, but we clear...

My hon. Friend is very able and has a wonderful job, but he wants to spend time on a Sunday with ...

I am sure my hon. Friend will appreciate that not only do people work in shops on Sundays already...

I think the Minister has hit the nail absolutely on the head. Listening to the debate hitherto, o...

I agree with my hon. Friend; I think he is right. One of the things I have been most passionate a...

Let me take the Minister back to the important point made by his hon. Friend the Member for Enfie...

I appreciate that the Labour party is not looking to drive economic growth, but our manifesto is ...

I shall take some more interventions in a few moments, but I am aware of the Speaker’s correct po...

There are a number of convenience stores in my constituency that are below the 3,000 sq feet thre...

I am sure my hon. Friend will appreciate—he used to work closely with me—that I was once the Mini...

As someone who has run his own independent retail business, may I tell the Minister that many ind...

I am slightly surprised by the hon. Gentleman’s comments. After all, his local authority is one t...

Has my hon. Friend had any conversations with the leaders of the SNP about why they liberalised t...

My hon. Friend has made a very good point. Research conducted by the Association of Convenience S...

It seems to me that, if Conservative Members are being asked to vote for something that was not i...

My hon. Friend has, in fact, made it clear why it is important for local authorities to be able t...

The Minister mentioned protection for shop workers earlier. I would welcome the strengthening of ...

We have made it clear from the beginning that this is a package. If Members vote for amendment 1,...

I am deeply concerned about this issue, and my name is attached to amendment No. 1. I listened to...

Order. First, may I appeal for as orderly an atmosphere as possible? The Chair seeks to facilitat...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Will you confirm again that the manuscript amendment that the Go...

It was not selected. For the benefit of people attending to our proceedings, I shall be explicit....

My hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed makes a strong point, and she has been consisten...

The Minister is fielding a difficult case very well. He is an excellent Minister with whom I have...

I have a similar admiration for my hon. Friend. He is a fantastic colleague to work with at all t...

Will the Minister give way?

I will in a moment, but I want to make a bit of progress.

The estimates of the growth that ...

Given that the Government have known the SNP’s position on this matter since November, why have t...

I am struggling to treat that comment with any seriousness. I would simply remind the hon. Gentle...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way; he is obviously trying to defend a difficult positi...

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments, but my colleagues and good friends around me are capa...

The largest employer in my constituency is Knowhow, of which hon. Members may be aware from order...

My hon. Friend makes a strong point clearly and highlights another important point. The United St...

Will the Minister give way?

Before I take any more interventions, I am aware of your comments about the time available this a...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for the Minister to proceed with a promise of leg...

Let me explain the position to the hon. Gentleman, to whom I am genuinely grateful for his point ...

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I will take some interventions in just a second. Obviously, you are absolutely right, as always, ...

I have been writing to constituents over the past six months saying that I agree with the Prime M...

I appreciate my hon. Friend’s faith in my ability to draft a letter, and I am happy to do that. A...

Is the Minister telling us that the conscience of this House and of individual Members of this Ho...

I am just going to continue outlining exactly the journey of travel would be. What he has outline...

I will take some more interventions in a moment, but I want to finish answering the hon. Gentlema...

I thank the Minister for giving way. First, we had the Minister, a member of the union of barrel ...

The hon. Gentleman is not quite correct. There is huge interest in this. I am talking about local...

I will take some interventions in a moment. If Members vote against amendment 1, as I am asking t...

Does the Minister agree that another point of reassurance to hon. Members across the House is the...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is in the Bill an ability to zone. Local areas that wan...

If Lincoln applies for a pilot and it goes ahead, will there not be intolerable pressure on West ...

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind invitation to a rest, but I am happy to carry on and try to d...

Before entering this place, I was in business for 25 years. It is absolutely right to consider th...

My hon. Friend gets to the heart of a key issue: what is right for the wider community and for ou...

I live in Carlisle. Last Sunday, I went shopping in Gretna. Is it not right that the people of Ca...

My hon. Friend will know as well as I do, if not better, that businesses in Carlisle want this po...

I thank the Minister for letting us know about the zoning proposals. Perhaps he could clarify whe...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I can appreciate that parts of London would want to come forwa...

For the purposes of clarity, will the Minister tell us how the proposals, which we have not yet s...

I would say to the hon. Lady and to colleagues around the House that, as we put these proposals f...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I am not going to take an intervention. We need to allow other hon. Members to have their say...

Welcome to our deliberations, Madam Deputy Speaker. I should refer the House to my entry in the R...

Is my hon. Friend aware of any provision that allows Government Members to pre-empt a decision in...

My right hon. Friend makes a good point, and the Government have had ample opportunity in the Lor...

Let me underline the point made by the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes). If we wa...

I completely agree—

rose—

Let me answer my hon. Friend. Perhaps the Minister will answer the similar point made by the hon....

Let me help the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues. I outlined the measures in the way I did becau...

That is complete nonsense. The Minister had long enough when he was on his feet to demonstrate th...

Are we moving towards talking about a hypothetical amendment with hypothetical evidence, when in ...

That is an excellent point, and I will expand on it later.

Do we not have a choice today between a clear amendment that we can understand, feel and touch, a...

In both his interventions the hon. Gentleman has made the point as well as anybody, and I complet...

I really should make progress and I will take more interventions later.

I congratulate the ...

I would like to ask the hon. Gentleman the same question I asked my hon. Friend the Minister. Wha...

I am sure SNP Members will answer the hon. Lady’s question. The reality is that we have a great B...

Does the hon. Gentleman not think it is right that the people of Carlisle should decide whether s...

If the hon. Gentleman wants to organise an Adjournment debate about the people of Carlisle, I am ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am going to make some progress, because unfortunately the Minister took up so much time.

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the hon. Member for Carlisle (John Stevenson) has just made hi...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The hon. Member for Kensington (Victoria Borwick...

My hon. Friend is making a very good speech. The Trafford centre is a large shopping centre situa...

There are similar examples up and down the country. My hon. Friend is absolutely right.

Let...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am going to make some more progress before I take any more interventions.

The larger reta...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I don’t have a choice, do I?

On a point of clarity, the hon. Gentleman can read the record for himself, as can members of the ...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. All I will say is that I am glad that she a...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am not going to take any more interventions at the moment. We have not got very long, because t...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I am not going to give way.

The Prime Minister said that the family test should apply t...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I am not going to give way at this stage.

Because of the cost of going to an employment tri...

Order. Hon. Members can see how many people want to speak and only a little over an hour is left ...

I rise to speak because if I said this in an intervention, I would test the patience of the House...

I am pleased that we have the opportunity to debate the extension of Sunday trading hours. Since ...

My hon. Friend rightly underlines the point that we have always made about the long-term erosion ...

I entirely agree.

My SNP colleagues and I made it clear in November last year that we would...

Will the hon. Lady confirm that if these proposals are passed, they will increase protections for...

As I have just said, employment protections will increase, but no Minister has said anything abou...

The hon. Lady is banging on about fairness. Is it fair for a business in Scotland potentially to ...

The hon. Gentleman is missing the point. What is not fair is for the UK Government to bring in pr...

I rise to speak in support of amendment 19, which I suggest is a workable compromise. As Second C...

Will my right hon. Friend answer the point that I tried to make in a previous intervention? Behin...

My hon. Friend makes a perfectly valid but separate point. I am addressing the question of whethe...

As my right hon. Friend will be aware, I represent a constituency with a large tourism industry. ...

This is essentially a devolved proposal. It would be for local authorities to express an interest...

Order. We have just under 50 minutes and many people wish to contribute. If everyone speaks for f...

I was very pleased to add my name to the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Enfield, South...

I rise more in sorrow than in anger. I have made my views known to the Minister. I am disappointe...

I am very pleased to be able to speak in support of the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for E...

When you do not put something in your manifesto—indeed, when you are the leader of a political pa...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

No, because I want to finish as soon as possible to obey the Speaker.

5.15 pm

The cha...

It is a pleasure to speak on this matter and to be one of the 70 signatories to the amendment tab...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I apologise, but I cannot. The Speaker has been very clear.

The Minister has regularly said...

We have just over 27 minutes remaining. I call Sir Gerald Howarth.

I am delighted to support my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes) by being...

Two years.

It took two years, but we started the process before that, in 1986, and it was done over a period...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

No, forgive me.

This proposal will also do nothing to relieve the problems felt by the bele...

The Minister’s last-ditch attempt at a compromise has already been described as scraping the barr...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will not, because we are very short of time.

The opt-out has been described as “laughable...

I rise to speak in favour of Sunday trading, because, in a place such as London—I stand as a Lond...

The main reason I will be supporting the amendment tonight is that the Government’s proposal is b...

Like my good friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson), it is with a heavy ...

The Minister’s proposals on pilots are what we call in Welsh a “cath mewn cwd”—a cat in a sack—an...

Retail is in my blood. Growing up, my mother owned a shop, and at 16 I started work on the shop f...

Order. I would like to accommodate two more speakers, if possible.

As they say, you may not realise what you’ve got till it’s gone—I think that applies to all of us...

I rise to support amendment 1, which bears my name on the amendment paper.

The Conservative...

It has been clear throughout the course of our debate that the Government have not made their cas...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In response to a previous intervention, the Minister said that m...

I think that the hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation, as he will be keenly aware. His atte...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The House has spoken on the very contentious issue of Sunday tra...

The hon. Lady has made her point, but it is not a matter for the Chair.

The Speaker then pu...

Our consideration having been completed, I will now suspend the House for no more than five minut...

I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the St...

indicated assent.

I believe I have had the necessary nod. We must now under the relevant Standing Order forthwith r...

On a point of order, Mr Hoyle. Can you explain exactly what is going on with this particular proc...

Do not worry. I can give the answer now: no, I do not.

There will now be a joint debate on ...

The legislative consent motions are before the House and available to Members. I beg to move.

On a point of order, Mr Hoyle. I seek some clarification. The paperwork handed out says “Legislat...

The House shall now resolve itself forthwith into the Legislative Grand Committee (England).

I remind hon. Members that no further debate on the consent motion for England is permitted and t...

Aye.

No.

I think the Ayes have definitely got this one. It was a lonely but valiant effort.

Question...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Third time.

Businesses are Britain’s engine room...

Order. Can we have less noise while the Secretary of State is addressing the Chamber?

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

It is certainly an ambitious Bill that covers a lot of ground...

As someone who believes that people in England should have a measure of devolution in response to...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The SNP are only interested in creating headlines, not jobs, ...

I shall give way in a moment.

This shows that we were absolutely right when we warned durin...

I think the right hon. Gentleman should learn a bit of grace in defeat, because that is what the ...

Of course we always listen to the will of this House, but that does not take away from the fact t...

I note the disappointment that the Secretary of State has shown in this regard, but I am afraid t...

My right hon. Friend, as always, makes a very important point. He will know that EVEL did not app...

I apologise for the difficulties in which the SNP has placed the Government, but we were simply v...

The hon. Gentleman should really be ashamed of his party’s performance today. He tries to hide be...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I shall carry on for a while. Other Members will want to speak.

Of course, the Bill is abou...

Before I entered the House, I had more than 25 years of experience in a small business—in fact, a...

I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. I think that the measure will make a huge difference....

The Secretary of State said, and the Minister for Housing and Planning said earlier, that passing...

I can confirm that that is not the case. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Government presented a ...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hope that it is a point of order. My understanding is that the...

The short answer to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order is that the passage of amendment 1 does n...

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Last May I launched the Bill at an event in Bristol, the city where ...

The Bill should have been so much more ambitious to live up to its encouraging short title, but d...

My first time on a Bill Committee was during the passage of this Bill, and the journey has certai...

I do not know whether my hon. Friend has some words of consolation for the Secretary of State, wh...

The Secretary of State could give us further devolution for a start. If we had been given more po...

You spoke in favour in the Committee—

I did not speak in favour of Sunday trading in Committee, because I did not speak about Sunday tr...

I was interested to hear the hon. Gentleman’s comments on Sunday trading. Will people working in ...

It is a different argument. The Government did not publish a full, proper impact assessment. The ...

I want to take the opportunity to highlight a really good part of the Bill, and, having worked in...

I, like the hon. Lady, started working in a shop at 16. Does she also welcome the fact that claus...

I have limited time available to me now, so let me just say that I think Sunday trading would enh...

Does my hon. Friend share my surprise that the Opposition seem uninterested in the small business...

With the House’s permission, I will continue discussing the small business commissioner. Under th...

These late payments can cripple small businesses. Does my hon. Friend agree that, when businesses...

Absolutely, and what we need to do to boost our economy is to encourage these small businesses to...

I will not take up too much of the House’s time. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity t...

Does the hon. Gentleman welcome, as I do—and announce—the appointment as the pubs code adjudicato...

I thank the right hon. Lady for her comments and their tone. The answer on both counts is yes, ab...

You are the first to hear.

That is marvellous. That appointment is now public, and it is a very significant announcement. I ...

I am a lawyer by profession, and I believe that the hon. Gentleman has asked me a leading questio...