Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Carol Monaghan Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

Removing legal protections for strikers will not settle this or any other dispute. This Bill has one single purpose: to empower the Government to silence workers who might dare to speak out about the decaying state of our public services and to sack those who will not comply. This Bill will not resolve a single dispute or fix a single broken public service. It is just an assault on working people trying to defend their living conditions in a Conservative cost of living crisis. It is an utter injustice that the same Government Members who have defended lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses will not stand up for the hard-working nurses and firefighters in their constituencies who want to negotiate for fair pay.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

The hon. Lady is making a fabulous, passionate speech. I am a former teacher and have taken strike action in the past over pay and conditions. Does she not think that when Government Members stand up for bankers and their bonuses but then talk about their hard-working, dedicated teachers or their hard-working NHS staff, it reeks of simple hypocrisy? They will not be taken seriously the next time they make such statements in this House.