Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will make a little bit of progress first. Right now, up and down the country, households are st...

Secretary of State, I believe in the fundamental right of a worker to withdraw their labour, whet...

I always think that people think very carefully about this issue, and they are right to do so. We...

rose—

I will just make this point because I think Labour Members may find it useful. Those prices going...

I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. Last week, Human Rights Watch warned that

“f...

The International Labour Organisation itself says—I will cover this shortly in my speech—that it ...

I will make a little progress.

Then there are children, who are desperately trying to catch...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will give way shortly; I will make a little bit of progress.

Those children are desperate...

Could the Secretary of State give us a little more indication of how he will consult on and agree...

I will set out in a bit more detail the way in which the legislation will work in a while, but, b...

I will give way in just a moment. I have already taken more interventions from Opposition Members...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way. He wants to talk about minimum safety lev...

I am surprised by how the hon. Gentleman, who normally speaks a lot of sense in the House, put hi...

If this is all about safety, why is the word “safety” not used once in the Bill or its explanator...

It is fairly obvious to say that a minimum service level in railways, for example, is about peopl...

I will just make a little bit of progress.

The Bill will ensure that we protect the ability...

There is an array of riches. I will give way to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Secretary of S...

Order. I am afraid I will have to ask the hon. Lady to withdraw her remark about fabricating. She...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your guidance. I will rephrase what I was saying. The realit...

I would just say to the hon. Lady, who I know has received money from GMB, the National Union of ...

rose—

I am actually answering the hon. Gentleman’s colleague’s point. One at a time.

The way that...

Let me finish the first point and move on with the speech.

I refer Opposition Members to th...

I hope the House will appreciate that there are a lot of people who want to contribute. I want to...

Can the Secretary of State help me with this? The human rights memorandum that accompanied the Tr...

The hon. and learned Lady must surely have noticed that we have subsequently had disruption in th...

rose—

rose—

rose—

I have given way once to the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry), so...

My right hon. Friend is under a constant onslaught of noise from Opposition Members, who show ter...

Order. Before the Secretary of State answers the hon. Gentleman, I remind the House that it is im...

My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester is absolutely right about the reason for requiring minim...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will in a moment, if I can make a little progress.

Using the powers proposed in the Bill,...

I thank the Secretary of State for acknowledging my presence in the Chamber after so many attempt...

I simply do not accept that point. Although it is true that life-and-limb measures exist, we have...

Order. I cannot hear the answer that the Secretary of State is giving to the question. There is n...

I suppose the fundamental point is that we hope very much that, in many cases, we will not need t...

I am a member of the GMB. I happen not to have received any money from the GMB, although I would ...

I think the GMB will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s pitch for some money. If he gets that money,...

I declare that I am a proud member of a trade union, and was a trade union officer for a number o...

Let me say this, in fairness to the hon. Lady. It is the case that the employers and the unions, ...

Last week, during my weekly surgery, a constituent asked me why the Labour party was too scared t...

Order. Members must not shout other Members down.

I could not figure out why Labour was scared to encourage trade unionists to come to the table. W...

I think there are 120 million very good answers to that question. We have an opportunity to keep ...

I will give way in a moment, but I want to make a little progress first.

The Bill and subse...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

As I have said, I will in a moment, but I want to make some progress.

Should a union notify...

Members on the Government Benches seem to think that none of those who are striking lives in thei...

I am sure that the normal parliamentary rules apply, so I would never stand here and seek to do s...

Order. It really is important that we hear what the Secretary of State has to say. It is also imp...

I should have referred to what the CLP received from Unite the union. Hon. Members are absolutely...

I am proud of my union membership, which is recorded in the register of Members’ interests, and I...

The right hon. Gentleman should note that there are 40,000 more nurses now, and more doctors too....

I will make a little more progress, because I think that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, would like to...

We are living in a time when democracy and freedom are under threat across the world. The right t...

Order. Please do not shout down the right hon. Lady.

Thank you for clarifying that, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Secretary of State just mentioned that m...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is no reason that her constituents should suffer ...

I will give way in just a moment, but I would like to get through a bit more first.

All tha...

On the claim of minimum safety levels across Europe, is the Secretary of State aware that, accord...

I agree that we have had a good working relationship for the last several decades. The hon. Lady ...

There is a lot of focus on in Europe, but I would like to focus on Gloucestershire, where nurses ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is about minimum standards. For anyone who cares about t...

As far as I can tell, the Government have ruled out voluntary options 1 and 2 in their assessment...

It is because we were given adequate demonstration from the recent strikes that unfortunately in ...

I feel I have been generous in allowing interventions and it is right to complete my segment so t...

Can the Secretary of State tell the House how many people died in the care of the national health...

The problem, as people will recognise, is that as we do not have a nationally agreed level of cov...

Does the Secretary of State see the irony in expecting unions to ensure minimum safe service leve...

I did not quite follow the hon. Lady’s point on the railways. The railways on strike days are fin...

As colleagues can see, well over 50 hon. and right hon. Members are wishing to catch my eye. Befo...

First, let me declare an interest as a proud lifelong trade unionist. I regret the tone of the Se...

Order.

What about the Conservatives crashing the economy? The Secretary of State forgets the fact that i...

I declare an interest as a proud trade union member. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this le...

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution and I absolutely agree. I was reflecting while the S...

I thank my Unison comrade for giving way. I am not a member of the parliamentary Labour party, bu...

I absolutely agree with my friend. We may not be in the same party, but we are in the same trade ...

I, too, declare an interest. As a proud trade unionist and trade union lawyer for many years befo...

I absolutely agree. People watching this debate can see from the Secretary of State’s opening rem...

My mam is a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, as I have previ...

My hon. Friend makes some important points. We can all see from the reports on the negotiations t...

I declare my interest as a proud trade unionist. I meet striking workers on an almost weekly basi...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.

This legislation

“is not a solution to dealin...

I remind the House that we have a number of sectors in the UK in which employees are not allowed ...

I am glad the hon. Gentleman got the crib sheet from the Whips. There is a complete and utter lac...

The right hon. Lady mentions the issue of pay and speaking to unions to resolve this dispute. Can...

I will just educate the hon. Gentleman: although I used to be a trade union official and I am a m...

I would like to try again on this, because the right hon. Lady aspires to be Deputy Prime Ministe...

What I can say is that the Labour party would not have crashed the economy like the Conservatives...

It is difficult to listen to the Secretary of State accuse workers who have devoted their lives t...

The hon. Gentleman makes some important and valid points. In the past 12 months to two and a half...

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Labour Government in Wales were given more than £1 billion...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend; not only would we have grown the economy—and we have a pl...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner). It was so...

Is the right hon. Lady aware that the Secretary of State’s own colleagues—the Secretaries of Stat...

I say to the hon. Lady and to all Members in the House that we are facing fundamental economic ch...

I do not have time to give way.

It is reform that we should be talking about today—reform t...

I cannot give way, because I do not have time.

Importantly, I wish to press the Government ...

I call the SNP spokesperson.

6.35 pm

The right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) said that this was a partisan debate. Of course it...

I call the Chair of the Transport Committee.

6.49 pm

It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate as Chair of the Transport Committee, and I will foc...

Will the hon. Member give way?

If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I have only a minute left and many Members wish to speak.<...

I declare an interest as a member of Unite the union.

May I start by correcting the public ...

I stand to speak in favour of the legislation and to commend the Government for taking this diffi...

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

Will the hon. Member give way?

No. This Government are turning back the clock not just on workers’ rights but on the rights of t...

I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving way. Will she point out where there are any criminal ...

If we attack the trade unions, which are made up of members who are workers, then we are attackin...

We have had so much disruption to our critical services in recent years, and I pay tribute to all...

Let me start by declaring an interest: I am a proud member of both Unite the union and GMB and, p...

What would the hon. Lady say to those members of the RMT who decided to come back to work before ...

That is democracy. Trade unions are subject to the most vigorous legislation when they are ballot...

I would like to accept the invitation of the shadow Deputy Prime Minister, the right hon. Member ...

The hon. Lady asks whether any of us on the Opposition Benches care about fundamental safety leve...

I thank the hon. and learned Lady for her point, and I will assist her, because I was coming on t...

The ILO also says, does it not, that the minimum service level has to be agreed by an independent...

I am grateful to both SNP Members for their interventions. I am coming on to those points, so I w...

The hon. Lady is presenting a reasoned case, but she knows, and she has just used the word, that ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. I am coming to all these things, so if he will give me ...

The disingenuousness comes from making comparisons with other nations under ILO regulations, whic...

With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I take the opposite position. The United States has an outrig...

A lot of time is spent in courts in some countries arguing about minimum service level agreements...

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate. I start by declaring that I am not a member of GMB, Unit...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sorry; I will not give way to hon. Members, because I have to crack on.

These strikes ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way and for being honest about his trade union membership. ...

I remind the hon. Gentleman that my remarks are about those in the transport industry who are in ...

It looks like being quite the week for the use of draconian anti-democratic powers by this Govern...

I call Gagan Mohindra.

7.32 pm

May I first welcome you to your place, Mr Deputy Speaker? I place on record my thanks to all publ...

Order.

7.36 pm

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

This is a debate about the balance of rights, and balancing the right to strike of our constituen...

Most Labour Members will be proud of the fact that trade union members in their local branch meet...

I certainly will not, because the hon. Gentleman failed to declare in his intervention that he re...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, in which Members w...

I welcome you to your place, Mr Deputy Speaker, and it is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member fo...

Will the hon. Member give way on that point?

No, I will not.

Minimum service levels are not an anomaly. France, Spain and Italy have giv...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson) with that ex...

Industrial action has impacted on many aspects of people’s lives in Guildford over the past few m...

I will not be supporting this legislation, for three reasons. First, the Bill is not really about...

The Bill is about duty, fairness and balance—nothing more, nothing less. The first duty of any Go...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I won’t because of the time.

This is about balancing the right to strike with the right...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I won’t because of the time.

That right has been a key part of our labour laws since 19...

Order. I call Barry Gardiner.

8.7 pm

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a proud union me...

Would my hon. Friend like to comment on why the Government have refused even to agree to the supe...

That is quite simply because they are introducing a party political measure that is designed to p...

Order. I am terribly sorry that I had not given notice, but we are going down to three minutes to...

I should first declare that I am a member of the British Medical Association. As an NHS consultan...

Order.

8.15 pm

I rise to speak as a proud trade unionist. I have been a member of a trade union all my working l...

I believe in the right to strike. I do not think strikes work, but I do believe in them.

I ...

I am not funded by unions—or Russia—so before I even get on to the Bill, it is important for me t...

Are we not seeing a pattern of behaviour? When the Government could not reach the child poverty t...

Absolutely—and that leads me neatly to my next point.

I have previously spoken about the da...

I call Clive Efford.

I withdrew, Mr Deputy Speaker, because I was not present for the opening speeches.

Christine Jardine will be delighted to hear that.

8.25 pm

Not at all, Mr Deputy Speaker! But thank you very much.

I rise to speak in opposition to th...

I declare my interest as a member of a trade union, and as a politician who has received donation...

I stand as a former shop steward and convener. I proudly refer to my register of interests—do hav...

I am speaking as a Unison member and, prior to that, someone who was a member of the RCN since 19...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. As a lifelong and ...

If Members can shave a few seconds off their speeches, it would help to get everybody in.

8...

I ask myself what problem so afflicts the British state that its Government see fit to bring forw...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, as we speak, firefighters who ran into Grenfell are suffering and...

Indeed, I do. Across the public sector we see people who, in recent years, saved us from the tria...

Order. Not everyone is going to get in. If Members take interventions, more people will not get i...

I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

It was always going to...

Let me declare my interest as a proud member of the trade union movement—I have been all my life ...

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I entered politics a...

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud union m...

As a proud member of a trade union, I begin by referring the House to my entry in the Register of...

Have we not been told so often throughout the course of this Parliament that one reason we do not...

I am really grateful to those of you who have kept your remarks to well under three minutes; it i...

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

I rise to speak as a proud trade unionist, which I have been since I was 16 and will be until the...

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

It is half an hour before the wind-ups start and there are more than 10 Members wishing to speak,...

I refer to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, my position as chair o...

I refer Members to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests that I am a mem...

I, too, refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a lifel...

I join many of my hon. Friends in declaring an interest in the register. I am proud to be a membe...

I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a proud member of Unite th...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I was also a trade...

I stand as a proud trade unionist in solidarity with my constituents who are taking strike action...

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a proud former emp...

Order. I ask those who took part in the debate please to come to the Chamber for the wind-ups, wh...

I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I would be worried if I did ...

It is an honour to be a Unite and GMB member—I point to my entry in the Register of Members’ Fina...

Geraint Davies, GMB, Swansea West constituency Labour party. [Laughter.]

The Tories have im...

Let me start by declaring my interests and my registrations as a trade union member.

This h...

I thank the Members on both sides of the House who have contributed to the debate.

The clea...

The Minister talks about the cost of strike action, but will he agree about the cost of the damag...

I would highlight the downward pressure already placed on inflation, the changes to the money mar...

Will the Minister give way?

I will shortly. Ministers across Government have been meeting unions to resolve the disputes wher...

The Minister will know that under this Bill it is possible for the Government to designate worker...

I will deal with work notices later in my speech, but it is clear that it is up to employers to d...

The Minister is making an excellent summing up, as always. Could he reaffirm that public opinion ...

I think that the polling is very clear. We have heard precious little about what the public think...

claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).

No, we still have another two and a bit minutes to run, so I am using my discretion not to accept...

In response to questions regarding the consistency of this legislation with the UK’s—

I beg to move, That the House sit in private.

Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 16...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Minister has said that it will cost the Government £2...

I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. The Chair is not responsible for the content of any...