Oral Answers to Questions

Seema Malhotra Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

What the timeframe is for bringing forward the legislative proposals on employment announced in the December 2019 Queen’s Speech.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

What the timeframe is for bringing forward the legislative proposals on employment announced in the December 2019 Queen’s Speech.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kwasi Kwarteng)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to say here in the House that the Government do intend to bring forward the employment Bill when parliamentary time allows.

[Seema Malhotra [V]]

The TUC estimates that 3.6 million people—one worker in nine—were in insecure work ahead of the coronavirus outbreak, leaving them exposed to massive drops in income or unsafe working conditions. It was bad then, and it is worse now. The Government have driven the author of their own Taylor review to say in quite extraordinary terms that the Government have lost their “enthusiasm” for enforcing workers’ rights. With no employment Bill yet on the horizon, is that not the plain truth for all to see? Whose side are the Government on?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I will take no lessons from the hon. Lady about workers’ rights and what this Government have done over many years to protect workers’ rights. The national living wage is higher than it has ever been in this country’s history. We have taken thousands of people out of tax, and I am not going to take any lectures from her.