Trade Union Bill

My Lords, perhaps I may add one point to the excellent summary given by my noble friend Lord Coll...

My Lords, I rise to speak specifically on the measures proposed in Clause 4 and the related amend...

My Lords, I hesitate to intervene, but could the noble Lord clarify which amendment he is speakin...

I am speaking to Amendment 23, which was moved to Clause 4.

The most likely thing is that t...

My Lords, the other Liberal Democrat spokesman wants to come in, so I will be brief. I did not re...

I am grateful. My Lords, I do not want to detain the House because there is a lot to get through,...

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, just said that the legislation should contain what a rea...

May I ask the noble Lord about that “reasonably detailed”? My noble friend referred to the kitche...

That is precisely why I expressed my understanding and support for the suggestion that the words ...

My Lords, I remind the House what unions are already required to do. They must ask members, on th...

My Lords, these clauses are about making sure that union members have clearer information on the ...

I have listened very carefully. Would it not meet the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick,...

I thank my noble friend. That is certainly something we can look at.

I was asked for an exa...

Is it not a reality that any ballot paper would have accompanying documents setting out the case ...

We do need clarity. I have listened to what has been said in relation to the reasonably detailed ...

I will be brief. Coming back to the point that the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, made earlier, and a...

My Lords, I am afraid I do not agree with the noble Lord. Having the necessary information on the...

The Minister has referred to a specific case. One of the problems with the impact assessment is t...

I think that the noble Lord makes the argument for the Bill: trying to bring in a greater degree ...

With regard to Clause 6, can the Minister tell us more about the regulatory impact? Under the coa...

I shall look at what the noble Lord has said. The way one in, two out works is that where a new b...

I appreciate the Minister’s comments. It is important that she reflects fully on all aspects of t...

Moved by

Baroness Donaghy

33: Clause 7, page 4, line 4, at end insert—

“( ) At ...

My Lords, one of the difficulties about moving an amendment on employment relations in a Bill whi...

My Lords, I want to make to a couple of points on this group. Why it is necessary to change the n...

My Lords, I listened carefully to the two speeches supporting this amendment. There has been a lo...

The noble Lord has made a point about the time that this process takes, but we are focusing on in...

I understand the point that the noble Lord is making, but that is five weeks’ notice that it migh...

As my noble friend pointed out, the rationale for the amendment has been changing while the Bill ...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, for her amendments and for the contribution s...

I thank the Minister for giving way. The point I was making was that, if unions put the date on t...

We will come back to that. In the mean time, I will deal with a different point. I have a serious...

Could the Minister give me a specific answer about the issue of contingency plans? The impact ass...

My Lords, I should like to look into that and revert, either under a later amendment or in writin...

I thank the Minister for her response and echo what she said about taking every opportunity to av...

Moved by

Lord Collins of Highbury

35: Clause 8, page 4, line 14, leave out “four” and...

My Lords, there are two clear issues to consider in relation to this clause. The first is whether...

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Collins has drawn attention to the mandate and its expiry. In part...

My Lords, I have listened to the debates on the last three amendments and have noticed a crucial ...

I go back to Ted Heath and 1971 and 1972, as the noble Lord does. I think it is unnecessary to us...

It would obviously be unsuitable for me to make any comment whatsoever about the current strike, ...

I just want to correct the idea that nobody is concerned about the consequences of industrial act...

First, I did not accuse anybody of not caring about the passenger or the customer. I merely point...

Would the noble Lord accept on this point that many of us are opposed to most of the measures in ...

I fear I have to say to the noble Lord that I am much older than he is. I remember exactly that a...

Oh!

If the noble Lords opposite do not think that, they had better have a few words with some of the ...

I cannot account for the arguments that other people made a long time ago; as the noble Lord righ...

I hoped that I was addressing this with a certain degree of care. I do not want to enter into the...

The Bill removes the requirement to take industrial action within 28 days. Does the noble Lord th...

I give way regularly because I much prefer debate in this House. I do not much like the system th...

My Lords, I entirely agree with my noble friend Lord Deben that strikes are, on the whole, to be ...

My Lords, just for the record, I have been misquoted. I did not argue the case for four months; w...

My Lords, I apologise for being unable, through my own fault, to speak at Second Reading. I give ...

My Lords, I declare an interest as a retired member of Unite. I joined my first trade union in 19...

My Lords, this group of Labour amendments, particularly Amendment 38, seeks to inject a further t...

My Lords, we have discussed at length the problems that are caused by old ballot mandates. For pu...

Just for clarity, the purpose of the 28 days is to ensure—whatever the rights and wrongs—that ind...

I thank the noble Lord for his measured response. I agree with the point that was made about trad...

It is important, before we come back to these issues, to note that when we make legislation, it s...

My Lords, I have listened to what has been said and, as your Lordships know, have already wound u...

I assume the Minister is asking me to withdraw my amendment, but I repeat that this is an issue w...

Moved by

Lord Stoneham of Droxford

41: Clause 9, page 4, leave out lines 36 to 38 and...

My Lords, I emphasise the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Deben, that strikes are not happy si...

My Lords, I support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham. I ask the same question...

My Lords, the gist of the amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, is to render the provision...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, for the points he made; I agree very much with t...

My Lords, I have listened very carefully to noble Lords who have spoken in favour of these amendm...

Does the noble Lord accept that the examples given by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, are illegal...

Well, they might be against the code but, as I understand it, the code is voluntary at the moment...

My Lords, I do not wish to detain the House for long. In 1970, I was elected to the other place f...

My Lords, I wish to speak briefly in support of the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Stone...

My Lords, I will make a couple of brief points. There is an irony in this debate, because most of...

My Lords, we have had a very effective discussion on these clauses—effective because we are chall...

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, for his amendment and for bringing up his experie...

They already are, so why does that need to be statutory?

It is in the code, of course, but it is not in the legislation and it is not legally enforceable ...

The current relationship of the law to the code is important. The code is taken into account in a...

I note what the noble Lord says. In a sense, I think he is making the same point as the noble Lor...

This returns to the point about reasonable people. How will the requirement that the person be fa...

That is a good question, but my understanding is that provisions relating to familiarity are not ...

I thank the Minister for her reply to these amendments. I welcome the support my amendments had f...

Moved by

Lord Collins of Highbury

57: Clause 10, page 6, line 1, leave out “in writin...

My Lords, we have two groups dealing with this clause. In a later group, my noble friend Lady Smi...

Surely this Bill is talking about what was agreed by the TUC in 1984—we have the letters. It was ...

I am sure that we will come on to that requirement. One thing that this debate has to deal with i...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. I have the honour of serving on the committee whi...

If the noble Lord wants me to give a long lecture on the Collins review, I shall be very happy to...

My Lords, I feel that, in a sense, these debates are in the wrong order. The noble Lord is talkin...

I am grateful for that intervention. The noble Lord, Lord King, is right. I could not predict the...

Are we not going to have a preliminary debate on this? I want to make the same point as was made ...

My Lords—

Yes, I know. I am getting there. I am quite entitled to make my points, as the amendment has been...

My Lords, I propose that we adjourn and that I answer the questions that have been raised by the ...

Okay. In the light of those comments, I will withdraw the amendment, as long as I can then interr...