Speeches by Law.

“I have been both an employer and an employee in a number of situations, including in retail and hospitality, which we have been hearing about. The hon. Member talks about emergencies, and I understand that emergencies can happen—I have been an employer when we had an emergency situation. What usually happens in those c…”

“rose—”

“I am sorry to stop the Minister in his tracks, but it is quite an important point. There is in the Bill what I would consider to be a loophole, which enables employers to offer a guaranteed-hours contract where there is work of a short-term nature. There are some issues with that. I would like to know the justification…”

“Q We have heard a general consensus breaking out around fire and rehire, but part of one of the clauses in the Bill has a bit of a loophole, to put it bluntly—“likely” financial difficulties. We have heard already today, and we heard on Tuesday, that that could be a back door for employers. I would like to hear your vi…”

“Q We have heard from each of you about what you would ideally like to see in the legislation. One thing we have heard is that it is going either too fast or too slow for businesses. What are your thoughts on how much time will be required for businesses and employees to be ready for this legislation? Professor Simms: C…”

“Q I am sure you welcome some of the proposed changes to statutory sick pay. One key problem with it is the level of sick pay. People still go to work ill because the level of sick pay is simply not enough: £116.75 averages 18% of the average weekly wage at the moment. That is half the equivalent percentage when it was …”

“Q I want to ask Joanne a little bit about USDAW’s experience dealing with Tesco. Tesco is one of the biggest employers in my constituency and it has a live case in the Livingston distribution centre regarding fire and rehire. I know that USDAW has put a lot of resources into taking Tesco to court over its distribution …”

“Q Can I press a little bit further on that, Mike? I understand that there should be some room for employers who are under extreme financial stress, but the employers we have looked at so far—British Airways, P&O, British Gas, Douwe Egberts and Tesco—are not small companies. They have deep, deep pockets. They could …”

“The Government’s insistence on continuing to implement the Tories’ deep and damaging cuts to the aid budget and unprecedented levels of ODA spending on in-donor refugee costs is resulting in reductions, pauses and cancellations of overseas ODA projects.”

“I see that the Minister is shaking her head; I look forward to her response. Does she recognise that the UK Government cannot say they are back on the global stage while these Boris Johnson-inspired policies continue to cut deep into our development policy?”

“Ninety per cent? Joeli Brearley: Ninety per cent; it is a significant proportion. Often, these are for quite measly sums of money. They are pushed on women when they are feeling very vulnerable. Women are told that, if they sign this non-disclosure agreement, they will get a really good reference and it will all go awa…”

“Q I wanted to explore something a bit more, Joeli, because my ears pricked up when you talked about non-disclosure agreements and the thousands that sign away the complete rights of women. Could you tell me a bit more about your research, and could you also tell us a bit about what lessons have been learned from Irelan…”

“Q Following on from Mr Moxham’s comments, I wonder whether there are parts of this UK-wide Bill that give you concern for employment rights in devolved nations where devolved Governments already have responsibility for employment relations? Is it not time that employment law was devolved, as is supported by the STUC, T…”

“Q I am focusing still on fire and rehire. Listening to the comments made in the last five minutes, I think the consensus is that we want to see the end of fire and rehire, and I completely support that. However, when you look at the detail of the Bill, there could well be a loophole to allow it to continue. There is a …”

“Q A number of parts of the legislation have been removed, and some are obviously there for consultation. I wanted to ask you as a panel where you would like to see the Bill go further. What more ambition would you like to see in the Bill? Matthew, maybe we could start with you. I can see you have a bit of a blank stare…”

“Q This is a question for the whole panel but, Carly, you mentioned that regulations here set the minimum standards. Does this Bill go far enough, and which bits would you like to see go further? Carly Cannings: It was not a criticism when I said that it was about minimum standards. As I said, creating a happy, thriving…”

“3. If he will increase the amount and proportion of official development assistance allocated to humanitarian projects.”

“Let us remind this House why we are here. Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant stand accused of very serious crimes: the crime against humanity of murder, and the crime against humanity of persecution and starvation as a weapon of war. Seventy per cent of those killed in this war are innocent women and children. Nobody …”

“People in my constituency and across Scotland want a post office network from which they can access essential government services, such as their pensions. We frequently hear in this House about the ever-increasing number of bank closures. The minimum of 11,500 post office branches is welcome, but I have heard little fr…”

“Ahead of the general election the Labour party was warned that its plans for the North sea in Scotland would lead to up to 100,000 Scottish job losses. Last week this became a reality when the US oil firm Apache said that it would end all its operations in the North sea by the end of 2029, citing this UK Government’s B…”