Employment Rights

Charlotte Nichols Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

It would be helpful if we could go a little faster, because the House has a lot of business before it over the rest of the day.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab) [V]]

Polling for the GMB union found that 76% of the public want fire and rehire to be banned, including 71% of Conservative voters. If only unscrupulous employers use fire-and-rehire tactics, as the Minister said in a previous answer, a non-legislative solution will do absolutely nothing. How much more consensus is needed before the Minister acts to ban fire and rehire, rather than warm words that do nothing to protect workers in his constituency or mine?

[Paul Scully]

I have noticed that I can shrink my long list of responsibilities in the ministerial portfolio down to Minister for unintended consequences. I do not want to have a series of legislation, which is a blunt instrument, as if it is tackling a binary tool. That would have unintended consequences for people’s jobs and livelihoods. We want to have a flexible economy so that we get both right.