Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment

Alex Mayer Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Mayer (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)]

Although some people will be hoping for a summer that is hot, hot, hot, many workers will not be doing so, because, although we rightly have legal protections against the cold in the workplace, there is still no legal maximum for heat. I am pleased that Ministers began a process with the Health and Safety Executive in the spring to look at workplace temperatures, and I look forward to a timetable being set for a public consultation. Maximum working temperatures, backed by law, are already standard practice in other countries such as Spain and Germany. But, to be clear, this is not just about stopping work when the sun shines, but about common-sense protections, such as ventilation, rest breaks, cooler uniforms and flexible hours. The climate is changing, and so too must our laws.

Let me turn to another summer matter. As we head into the summer recess, Members across the House will no doubt be thinking about their summer reading lists—I am sure that you might have a few titles lined up yourself, Madam Deputy Speaker. But how often do we stop to think about where those books are printed? A quiet revolution is happening in the publishing industry. Millions and millions of books are being printed in Bedfordshire every single year, yet this has remained a really well-kept secret for some time. That is why I called on Amazon to include the words, “Printed in Dunstable” in every book produced at its Bedfordshire site.

To make my point, I wrote a children’s story myself, about a little book with an identity crisis—he does not know where he is from. He goes all around the country, from Bristol in the south to Aberdeen in Scotland. Like all good stories, it has a happy ending, because the local MP intervenes.

I challenged Amazon to make my story come true, and I am absolutely delighted to be able to tell the House today that, from this week, every book printed by Amazon in Dunstable will say just that—that it is printed in Dunstable. That is a brilliant way to put the town and its people on the map.

Madam Deputy Speaker, whatever you and other Members are reading in the next few weeks—whether it is a biography, a romance, or even a political thriller—I hope that you all have a great summer.