Employment Rights Bill

Lord Balfe Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 21st July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

I think I am right in saying the Companion says that the noble Lord is not allowed to speak twice in the debate as he has not moved the amendment.

[Lord Balfe (Con)]

Maybe I could say what I think the noble Lord, Lord Hendy, was going to say. The workplace is not necessarily quite as put. Both my grandmothers were businesspeople in their own right, with small businesses. The one we always call my English grandmother—because she was not the Irish one—was asked towards the end of her life whom she thought were the best politicians. She, rather like her grandson, had managed to vote for all the parties before she died. She said that the greatest politician in Britain was Stanley Baldwin, because he cooled down Britain after the general strike and, as she used to put it, he got rid of our Nazi King. So I have a lot of time for Stanley Baldwin. He is also one of my heroes, and the fact of the matter is that this is a thoroughly good amendment. Collective bargaining is a thoroughly good thing, and I hope I have not misrepresented too much what I think my friend was about to say.